Tennis Opens Fall at Rice Invitational

Lady Cougar Sports
1

image
image1920×1080 1.38 MB

Doubles action at the Rice Invitational is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., Friday while singles will follow at 10 a.m. However, due to the threat of inclement weather in the area, start times could be moved to as early as 7:30 a.m. Continue to follow the official Twitter account of Houston Tennis, @UHCougarTennis for updates.

Houston will send three student-athletes to compete on the weekend, including freshman Sophie Gerits. The Brussels, Belgium native opens her career with a matchup against Linda Huang (Rice) in Flight 2 singles.

Junior Phonexay Chitdara is also slated to make her Houston debut Friday competing against Laura Pellicer of USF in Flight 5. Chitdara, a transfer from McNeese, where she played for Besovic, compiled a 24-12 record in her two seasons in Lake Charles, La.

Ndindi Ndunda will be Houston’s final singles competitor of the weekend, when she meets Gabriela Guilarte of SFA in the first round of Flight 6. Ndunda, a sophomore transfer from Fresno State, posted a 7-11 record during her first collegiate season in 2016-17.

On the doubles court, Gerits and Chitdara will make their pairs debut for Houston while competing in Flight 1. The Cougar duo will meet Huang and Michaela Haet (Rice) to open play.

2

After a short weather delay, play began with doubles action, where Phonexay Chitdara and Sophie Gerits made their Houston debuts. Matched up against Rice’s Michaela Haet and Linda Huang, the Cougars dropped the season-opening match 6-2.

Chitdara’s Houston debut on the singles court came against Laura Pellicer of USF in Flight 5. The sophomore rolled to a victory in the first set 6-1, before returning to sweep the match with another 6-1 victory in the second set to pick up her first win at Houston.

Sophomore transfer Ndindi Ndunda made her debut with Houston on the singles court, drawing Gabriella Guilarte of SFA in Flight 6. As the final Cougar in action on Saturday, Ndunda cruised to a 6-1 victory in the first set, before clinching the match with a 6-3 decision in the second frame.

Gerits would return to action later in the afternoon for her first collegiate singles match, where she met Huang in Flight 2 singles. After dropping the first set 6-0, Gerits battled in the second set, forcing a tie at 5-5, before eventually dropping the set 7-5.

Action continues for the trio of Cougars at the Rice Invitational with the Second Round and Consolation Round of the tournament, Saturday. Play is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m., however due to the threat of inclement weather in the area, start times are subject to change. Fans can follow the official Twitter account of Houston Tennis, @UHCougarTennis for updates.

3

https://twitter.com/UHCougarTennis/status/1043309460289212417

4

Houston’s doubles duo of Sophie Gerits and Phonexay Chitdara picked up their first victory of the season in Sunday’s match against Isidora Zukovic and Karla De La Luz Montalvo of Sam Houston State. In a back-and-forth battle, the Houston and SHSU teams sat tied at 6-6 before the Cougars pulled off the win, 7-6.

Gerits returned to the court for singles play, and the resumption of her match against Millie Stratton (Maryland), which was halted with Gerits leading 6-4, 4-3, on Saturday. Gerits quickly won the first two games of the resumption to complete her first career victory 6-4, 6-3.

Gerits advanced to the consolation final of Flight 2, where she met Sahaja Yamalapalli of Sam Houston State. Gerits dropped the first set 6-2 before also falling in the second set 6-2.

Chitdara also competed in singles action, where she advanced to the Flight 5 finals. After defeating Laura Pellicer (USF) on Friday, and not seeing the court due to the weather on Saturday, Chitdara met Alex Heczey of North Texas, Sunday. The two were locked in a battle in the first set, however Chitdara edged out Heczey 7-6, before cruising to a 6-2 victory in the second set to clinch the match.

Chitdara and Giovanna Fioretti (McNeese) did not play their flight finals match due to time restrictions.

Ndindi Ndunda advanced to the Flight 6 finals on Sunday, due to Mariya Shumeika (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) withdrawing from their semifinal match. Ndunda would meet Charoline Erinadsson (McNeese) in the finals, however the sophomore fell in straight sets 6-1, 6-4.

Freshman Stephanie Belovukovic made her debut with the Cougars on Sunday, filling in for the injured Minying Liang of North Texas. After Selim claimed the first set 6-2, Belovukovic responded with a 6-3 victory in the second set, however Selim edged Belovukovic 10-5 in the super tiebreaker to claim the match.

Belovukovic would respond in a big way with her second match of the day, picking up her first career win over Ema Dancetovic of Northwestern State. Belovukovic rolled to a straight-set victory at 6-3, 6-1 to claim the match.

5

# Tennis opens season with mixed performances at Rice Invitational

Houston had a rough offseason, losing the majority of its players along with former head coach Courtney Steinbock. Despite the setback, the Cougars performed well in the first tournament of the year with new head coach Helena Besovic.