University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
<b> Columbia
No. 67 Tennis Strolls Past Columbia
3/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
March 12, 2006
HOUSTON - The No. 67 University of Houston tennis team concluded its five-match homestand with a 6-1 rout of Columbia Sunday at Hoff Courts.
"Everyone on the team is relieved to pull off an undefeated home stretch," head coach John Severance said. "The good news is that we're 11-2 and not playing our best tennis.
The Cougars (11-2) conclude its five-match home stretch undefeated and took the doubles point after dropping a close 8-5 decision in the No. 1 slot.
The pairs of Sonja Nikolic and Yolandi Terblanche along with Kami Miller and Vicky emerged with hard-fought 8-6 and 9-7 wins, respectively to clinch the doubles point for UH giving the Cougars a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
Simpson and Terblanche extended the lead to 3-0 with strong victories at the bottom of the lineup. After winning a first set tiebreak, Simpson cruised 6-0 in the second set, while Terblanche notched a 6-1 third set win after splitting the opening sets.
Loli Gomez and Brianna Bateup secured the match at the top of the lineup. Gomez took a 6-2, 7-5 in the No. 2 hole, while Bateup charged through 7-5, 7-5 at the No. 1 position.
"I was very happy to see Loli and Brianna pull out wins in tough matches at the top of the lineup," Severance said. "Great teams have the ability to win at every spot from top to bottom."
After winning the first set 6-2, Kami Miller dropped the final two sets 6-3, 6-1 in the No. 3 slot.
Sonja Nikolic picked up her second consecutive gutting out a 10-6 victory in a third set tiebreak for the final margin of 6-1.
The Cougars return to the road for the first time in over two weeks Wednesday at Northern Arizona. First serve against the Lumberjacks is slated for 3pm.
"We stayed together as a team and were mentally tough today," Severance said. "That's something that we can fall back on when we go on the road this week."
The team will also face off against No. 21 Arizona State Friday at 1pm. Both matches will serve as a homecoming for Arizona natives Kami Miller and Sarah Reimer.
No. 67 Houston 6, Columbia 1
Doubles
No. 1 - Worsley/Kacher (Columbia) d. Gomez/Bateup (UH) (8-5)
No. 2 - Nikolic/Terblanche (UH) d. Hall/Suda (Columbia) (8-6)
No. 3 - Miller/Simpson (UH) d. Chao/Hendry (Columbia) (9-7)
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
No. 1 - Bateup (UH) d. Kacher (Columbia) (7-5, 7-5)
No. 2 - Gomez (UH) d. Murray (Columbia) (6-2, 7-5)
No. 3 - Hendry (Columbia) d. Miller (UH) (2-6, 6-3, 6-1)
No. 4 - Nikolic (UH) d. Shearer (Columbia) (5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-6)
No. 5 - Simpson (UH) d. Condit (Columbia) (7-6, 6-0)
No. 6 - Terblanche (UH) d. Worsley (Columbia) (6-1, 1-6, 6-0)
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 2, 1, 3, 4
