The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Rice
No. 23 Women's Tennis defeats Rice in home opener
01.31.2015 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns pick up singles wins from Ryann Foster, Neda Koprcina, Ratnika Batra and Danielle Wagland.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 23 Texas (2-1) yielded the doubles point but collected four singles victories en route to a 4-3 win over No. 32 Rice (1-3) Saturday afternoon at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center on the grounds of the UT Golf Club.
The Longhorns picked up a doubles win from UT junior Lana Groenvynck and sophomore Ratnika Batra, who knocked off Rice's Savannah Durkin and Solomiya Zinko by a 6-2 count at third doubles. Rice won at the first and second positions to win the doubles point and assume a 1-0 lead.
UT freshman Danielle Wagland evened the tally at fifth singles with her 6-1, 6-3 win over the Owls' Alison Ho. Texas took the lead for good when freshman Ryann Foster knocked off Rice's Liat Zimmermann 6-2, 6-3 at second singles.
Batra staked Texas to a 3-1 lead behind her 6-4, 7-5 win over Durkin at fourth singles, and sophomore Neda Koprcina put away the Texas win by way of her 6-2, 7-6 (1) victory over Katherine Ip at third singles. Rice claimed the remaining matches at the sixth and first positions.
"I was really impressed with the way we competed on all six singles courts, even the matches we lost," said UT head coach Danielle Lund McNamara. "We were right there. That's something we've really been emphasizing is battling from start to finish, hustling, fighting, being scrappy and being tough. I think we saw that on all six courts. That's a good sign and a step in the right direction."
Texas resumes dual-match play in two weeks when it ventures to southern California for matches against Pepperdine and USC.
No. 23 Texas 4, No. 32 Rice 3
Doubles – Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
1 Natalie Beazant/Liat Zimmermann (Rice) def. Breaunna Addison/Neda Koprcina (UT) – 6-4
2 Alison Ho/Katherine Ip (Rice) def. Ryann Foster/Danielle Wagland (UT) – 6-4
3 Ratnika Batra/Lana Groenvynck (UT) def. Savannah Durkin/Solomiya Zinko (Rice) – 6-2
Singles – Order of Finish: 5, 2, 4, 3, 6, 1
1 No. 24 Natalie Beazant (Rice) def. No. 84 Breaunna Addison (UT) – 6-1, 5-7, 7-5
2 Ryann Foster (UT) def. Liat Zimmermann (Rice) – 6-2, 6-3
3 Neda Koprcina (UT) def. Katherine Ip (Rice) – 6-2, 7-6 (1)
4 Ratnika Batra (UT) def. Savannah Durkin (Rice) – 6-4, 7-5
5 Danielle Wagland (UT) def. Alison Ho (Rice) – 6-1, 6-3
6 Solomiya Zinko (Rice) def. Lana Groenvynck (UT) – 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (4)
Players Mentioned
