ABOUT THE SHOCKERS Wichita State comes into Houston on Friday with a 1-3 record, falling to Missouri in their last match. The Shockers played Baylor and #11 Kansas as well. Senior Sandra Honigova leads the team, boasting a 16-5 singles record last season. This season, she carries a 0-3 singles record, while being undefeated in doubles.
ABOUT THE LADYJACKS The Ladyjacks are enjoying a 2-0 record this season, defeating Alcorn State and Jackson State. In their last match, SFA won 5-2 on Sunday. The Ladyjacks’ start player, Gabi Guilarte, holds a 1-1 singles record at Flight 1 this season. Guilarte is undefeated in doubles.
“I’m very proud of the team. Today we showed that we can play as a team and support each other,” says Head Coach Helena Besovic. “The conditions were difficult. It was cold, and we knew [Wichita State] were going to come hungry. We stayed focused throughout the match, and at the end, that’s what gave us this win.”
Due to the weather circumstances, the match started and ended with singles play. Ndindi Ndunda was the first player to step out of the court, falling to Sandra Honigova in a hard fought match at Court 1. Minutes later, however, Sophie Gerits gave the Cougars their first win of the day, rolling through Marta Bellucco in Flight 3, 6-4, 6-0.
On Court 5, junior Phonexay Chitdara defeated Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva 6-4, 7-5 to give the Cougars a 2-1 overall lead. Stephanie Belovukovic followed, beating Alexandra Lazarova in a long third set, 0-6, 6-1, 6-3. Belovukovic improved her singles winning streak, 5-1
The freshman from Serbia, Jovana Vukovic, topped Lingwei Kong in a thrilling match, 7-6, 6-4. Vukovic gave the Cougars the final win to clinch for the match, defeating the Shockers. The Cougars move to a 4-2 record, and 1-0 in the American Athletic conference.
Another solid result for the Tennis team this season. Considering that this is an entirely new team with new coaches, I’ve been impressed. Besovic seems to be a good hire so far.
In doubles, Elena Tairyan and Jovana Vukovic breezed through Armelle Cerdan and Vera Carvalho on Court 3, 6-0. After dropping the match at Court 1, Belgian duo Sophie Gerits and Phonexay Chitdara secured the doubles point for the Cougars, defeating Nida Karmal and Darinka Tiboldi, 6-3. The freshman and junior remain undefeated for the season in doubles play.
Taking the energy into singles, freshman Stephanie Belovukovic made quick work at Flight 6, handing Houston the first singles victory of the day, 6-0, 6-0. After the first match of the season against Texas A&M, the Australian has dropped only one set in a total of six matches.
Gerits followed shortly after, beating Kaja Ljubic at Court 3, 6-1, 6-2. To clinch the match, Mimi Kendall-Woseley topped Darinka Tiboldi at Flight 2, 6-2, 6-1.
Both teams decided to play the match out, giving Ndindi Ndunda, Vukovic and Chitdara the chance to win their respective matches. Vukovic defeated Cerdan in a 6-2, 6-4 matchup on Court 4, while Ndunda closed her match in a thrilling super tie-breaker, 6-4, 2-6, 10-5. The junior from Virginia holds a 4-3 singles record at Flight 1.
Chitdara gave Houston the last win of the day, beating Kamal at Court 5, 6-3, 6-2. The Cougars improve to a 5-2 record this season.
