NEW ORLEANS, La. \u2014\u00a0A program first pushed Charlotte’s winning streak to seven matches on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The 49ers’ 4-1 neutral-site win over No. 56 Rice was their first in the series after five losses to open it. It came a day after they downed Tulane, also 4-1, to push their overall record to 12-3.<\/p>\n
“Rice has always been a difficult team for us to beat – they’re strong players and well coached,” head coach Anthony Davison<\/a> said. “Today we tried to make it about physicality and sticking to game plans – and managed that really well. We’re very proud of the effort this trip and can’t wait to compete next weekend.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Against Tulane, Ni Xi<\/a> opened singles play with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Campbell Ricci, and Sara Suchankova<\/a> followed with a 6-4, 6-1 victory against Leigh Van Zyl.<\/p>\n Yelyzaveta Chainykova<\/a> added another point for the 49ers with a 6-4, 6-3 result over Micah Pierce, while Paula Dougherty<\/a> fell to Natalia Fantini 6-4, 6-0.<\/p>\n In doubles play, the No. 24-ranked duo of Xi and Suchankova rolled to a 6-0 win over Ricci and Summer Chandler, and the pair of Shona Nakano<\/a> and Andrea Chacon<\/a> earned a 6-4 victory against Van Zyl and Pierce.<\/p>\n Tulane’s Natalia Perez and Fantini took the remaining doubles match with a 6-1 win over Lucia Aranda<\/a> and Chainykova.<\/p>\n