Action at the HEB Invitational begins with the Round of 64 for singles play, where three Cougars will be in action at 8:30 a.m., on Friday. Freshman Laura Bernardos meets Sonia Chen (Louisiana Tech), while sophomore Lauren Alter drew Oceane Garibal (UT Tyler) and senior Ana Glumac will face Kalani Soli (UT Tyler).
The first round of doubles play will follow the morning singles session, and Houston will have two teams entered in the field. Sophomore Tsveta Dimitrova is set to team with senior Sveva Mazzari to take on Yuna Ito and Maria Shishkina (UT Tyler), while Alter and Glumac will face Magda Adaloglou and Sara Lizariturry (Mississippi State) with each match beginning at 10:30 a.m.
The singles Round of 32 will follow doubles play with action beginning at noon for student-athletes who advance from the first round. Dimitrova and Mazzari will also begin their singles runs in the Round of 32 with a pair of matches at 1:30 p.m., with Dimitrova meeting Lizariturry and Mazzari matching against Angela Lorenzo (Louisiana Tech).
The Cougars picked up two more wins in singles play, beginning with Dimitrova who entered ranked as the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Dimitrova dropped the first set 6-3 to Sara Lizariturry before answering with a 6-4 win in the second set to even the score. Dimitrova was able to keep the momentum in her favor in the final set, pulling out a 6-3 victory to seal the match. Dimitrova advances to the Round of 16 where she will meet Jessica Golovin (LSU) at noon on Saturday.
Mazzari also dropped her first set in the round of 32, falling 6-4 to Angela Lorenzo. The second set went down to the wire and entered a tie-breaker, however Mazzari evened the match with a 7-6 (7) set win. Mazzari would leave no doubt in the decisive set, dropping just one game en route to a 6-1 victory to advance in the tournament. With the victory, Mazzari moves on to Saturday’s Round of 16 to face Yuna Ito (UT Tyler) at noon.
Dimitrova opened the morning against Jessica Golovin (LSU) in the Round of 16. The sophomore opened strong with a 6-4 win in the first set before closing out the match with a 6-2 victory in set two to advance to the Quarterfinal Round.
In the quarters, Dimitrova grabbed an early lead over Angie Shakhraichuk (Baylor) with a 6-4 mark in the first set. However, Shakhraichuk was able to even the score with a 6-3 set-two win to force a decisive third set. The final set played just as close as the rest of the match, and it was Dimitrova prevailing with a 6-4 win to advance in the tournament.
Dimitrova opened Sunday’s competition in the semifinal round where she drew Baylor’s Livia Kraus. Dimitrova rolled in the first set to a 6-2 victory, however Kraus was able to respond with a 6-3 win in set two to even the score. Mazzari left no doubt in the third set dropping just one game in a 6-1 win to advance to the finals.
In the championship round, Dimitrova faced another Bear when she met Theresa Van Zyl. Dimitrova kept her momentum going into the finals by winning the first set 6-3. In the second set, Van Zyl responded to even the match with a 6-3 decision to force a decisive third set. The third set played back-and-forth, but it was Van Zyl coming away with a 6-4 victory to win the match.
