UTSA lost to American Athletic Conference opponent Rice University 4-2 on Saturday at the UTSA Tennis Center.
The Roadrunners (14-2) took an early lead over the Owls (9-4) after picking up a doubles point. After dropping two points in singles and nearly having to head into a final decision match, the ‘Runners could not overcome their No. 48 ranked Houston foes.
“We knew Rice was a good team; it’s one of the best in the conference,” coach Ki Kroll said. “We knew it was gonna be a battle, and it was. It could have gone either way for a while there, but they got the better of us today.”
Freshman duo Natalia Castaneda Guerrero and Aoka Nagasawa finished second on court three but were the first pair of ‘Runners to win their doubles, 6-4. Junior Arina Babenko and freshman Valeria Sanchez followed suit and beat Saara Orav and Francesca Maguina, 6-4, to win their first doubles together. This was the team’s first doubles win at home since Feb. 16.
“Our doubles were good. We’ve made a few changes, and they’ve come out pretty good. We were pretty happy with that,” Kroll said. “Rice is normally very strong in doubles, so taking a doubles point from them let us know that we’re in a good area.”
Babenko finished third for singles matchups after nearly sweeping Allison Zipoli off the court, beating her 6-2, 6-1. Though this was the last point UTSA took from Rice.
Italian teammates, junior Letizia Corsini and sophomore Vittoria Baccino, separately battled during doubles but simultaneously fought off their singles counterparts in an attempt to earn an additional two points. Baccino trailed during her first game but took the lead during her second. Leading at 5-4, Baccino worked to close out her second game so that she could head into a third, but Maguina won enough rallies to bring the score to 6-5 and beat Baccino 6-3, 7-5 in a tiebreaker. Because the two teams played to clinch, Corsini’s match was left unfinished.
“I felt like we competed on a few courts very well, so the objective is to compete better on all our courts,” Kroll said.
Sanchez and Nagasawa both lost 6-1, 6-2, and sophomore Ekua Youri lost 6-2, 6-3 to Divna Ratkovic.
“We fought really hard against a seasoned team that has a lot of upperclassmen. We’re very young, so our girls are just learning what it’s like to play against very good teams,” Kroll said. “You always want to win, but at the same time, you want to compete well, and we competed very well. I thought we did very well today so I’m happy.”
The women’s tennis team will follow in the men’s lead and play University of Denver at 11 a.m. Sunday, March 16, at UTSA Tennis Center.
