BATON ROUGE, La. – The Rice women’s tennis team dropped a hard-fought 4-1 decision to No. 10 LSU on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
No. 42 Rice (18-7) battled throughout the match and held leads on multiple courts when play was halted, nearly mounting a comeback after falling behind early.
LSU claimed the doubles point, but not without resistance from the Owls. On Court 2, Ema Mravcova and Francesca Maguin fell 6-2 to Kenna Erickson and Ella McDonald. The Tigers clinched the point on Court 3, where Divna Ratkovic and Daniela Chica led early before dropping a 6-4 decision to Carolina Kuhl and Addison Lanton. On Court 1, Darya Schwartzman and Uma Bakaityte were rallying and led 5-4 when play was suspended.
In singles, Schwartzman fell 6-3, 6-1 to Cadence Brace on Court 1, giving LSU a 2-0 lead. Mravcova responded with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Kinaa Graham on Court 6 to put Rice on the board. Bakaityte split the first two sets before dropping the decider 6-3. On Court 3, Nithesa Selvaraj won the opening set but fell 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to Kuhl, which clinched the match for LSU.
Play was halted on the remaining courts. Ratkovic had rallied to lead 3-0 in the third set after splitting the first two, 5-7, 7-6. On Court 4, Maguina fought off a match point and held a 4-6, 6-4, 6-5 advantage.
Rice closes the season with an 18-7 overall record. Head coach Elizabeth Schmidt leads all Rice tennis coaches with seven NCAA Tournament wins.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
D. Schwartzman/U. Bakaityte (RICE) vs C. Brace/K. Cross (LSU) uf
K. Erickson/E. McDonald (LSU) def. F. Maguina/E. Mravcova (RICE) 6-2
C. Kuhl/A. Lanton (LSU) def. D. Ratkovic/D. Chica (RICE) 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 3
SINGLES
C. Brace (LSU) def. D. Schwartzman (RICE) 6-3,
D. Rakovic (RICE) vs K. Cross (LSU) 5-7, 7-6, 3-0 uf
E. McDonald (LSU) def. U. Bakaityte (RICE) 6-7, 6-3, 6-3
F. Maguina (RICE) vs A. Lanton (LSU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-5 uf
C. Kugl (LSU) def. N. Selvaraj (RICE) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
E, Mravcova (RICE ) def. K. Graham (LSU) 6-3, 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 3, 5