The Rice women’s tennis team advanced to the semifinals of the American Conference Championship after defeating North Texas 4-1 on Apr. 17 at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
This victory allows Rice, seeded third and ranked No. 51 nationally, to continue its run in the tournament following a strong performance in both doubles and singles matches. The Owls now hold a season record of 15-6.
Rice started by securing the doubles point. Divna Ratkovic and Daniela Chica won their match against Carolina Laydner and Pia Petelinsek with a score of 6-0, while Francesca Maguina and Ema Mravcova clinched another win on Court 2 against Marina Adati and Ujin Batsukh, finishing at 7-5. The third doubles match was tied when play stopped.
In singles competition, Maguina earned Rice’s first point with a straight-set victory over Adati (6-3, 6-4). North Texas scored when Fernanda Martinez lost her match to Giuliana Ciangherotti (2-6, 3-6), but Ratkovic responded for Rice by defeating Lou Chalard (6-4, 6-1). Mravcova secured the decisive fourth point for Rice by beating Petelinsek (7-6, 6-0) after winning seven consecutive games in her match.
Play was halted on two courts: Darya Schwartzman was tied in her second set after dropping the first to Laydner; Nithesa Selvaraj led her second set against L. Schultz after losing the first.
Rice will next face No. 2 seed Charlotte in Saturday’s semifinal round at 10 a.m., aiming for redemption after falling to Charlotte earlier this season.
