University of Houston Athletics
Cougars Release 2016-17 Schedule
9/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
HOUSTON â€" The Houston Cougar Women's Tennis team and Head Coach Courtney Steinbock are excited to announce their 2016-17 competition schedule. The spring slate includes 10 matches inside the state of Texas with nine on their home courts.
"This year's schedule will hold challenges and great opportunities for our players as we compete against quality competition in a variety of conferences, including a few from our own," Steinbock said. "I'm looking forward to seeing what this group is made of throughout the year."
The fall season consists of two scheduled tournaments with the Rice Invitational being held Sept. 23-25 in Houston, and the ITA Texas Regionals following a month later on Oct. 20-23 in Waco, Texas. Qualifying athletes from the Regionals will move on to compete in the ITA National Indoors on Nov. 3-6 in Flushing, N.Y.
The spring season begins with a four-match home stand with the first coming against a team that finished the 2015-16 season ranked among the Oracle ITA Rankings, when the Cougars welcome No. 75 UT Arlington to town on Jan. 21 as part of a doubleheader with Prairie View A&M. Houston follows with a match against Abilene Christian on Jan. 28 before wrapping the home-stand against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Feb. 5.
Houston embarks on a 10-match road trip from Feb. 11 through March 10, with the first stop still in the Lone Star State when the Cougars face UTEP in El Paso, Texas. The Cougars continue west for a matchup against New Mexico State (Feb. 12) before meeting their first conference opponent of the season, Tulane, on Feb. 17 in New Orleans.
Steinbock's team will then face a trio of opponents ranked inside the final Oracle ITA Rankings from a year ago, beginning with No. 18 LSU in Baton Rouge, La. From there, Houston travels northwest for matchups against No. 51 Washington in Seattle, and No. 58 Oregon in Eugene, Ore.
The road trip concludes with a trip to the Midwest where Houston takes on Nebraska and Illinois State in a March 4 double header in Lincoln, Neb., before meeting their second conference foe of the season, UConn, in Storrs, Conn.
Houston returns home for a match against American Conference rival Memphis before heading back on the road for a trip to Utah. In the Beehive State, the Cougars will face No. 59 Utah in Salt Lake City before heading to Provo to face BYU.
Regular-season action concludes with a three-match home stand beginning with in-state rival SMU on April 7, before the Cougars meet No. 61 USF on April 9. Four days later, Houston faces its final test before the American Conference Championships when SFA comes to the John E. Hoff Courts on April 13.
The American Conference Championships will be held April 19-22 in at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla. The NCAA Championships will follow one month later at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga., on May 18-29.
MEET THE NEW COUGARS
The Cougars welcomed four new student-athletes as part of their 2016-17 recruiting class prior to the season.
"I'm extremely excited to get back to work this season," Steinbock said. "We have a great group of ladies who are committed to building a championship mentality and culture within this program."
Tsveta Dimitrova â€" Sofia, Bulgaria
Sofia, Bulgaria, native Tsveta Dimitrova joins the Cougars for the 2016-17 season from her high school 68 COY Akandemic Nikola Obreshkov. Tsveta enjoys watching top quality athletes play professional sports. She enjoys watching tennis great Novak Djokovic on the court because he is fast enough to take the ball quickly, he slides on hard courts and he has a really good backhand.
Ana Glumac â€" Belgrade, Serbia
Ana Glumac transferred to the Cougars by way of Albany, where she spent the first two seasons of her career before the university canceled its tennis program last season. Glumac was a member of the Great Danes 2016 America East Championship team that clinched a berth in the NCAA Championships.
Glumac is a huge dog lover who enjoys singing, reading and traveling, and she aspires to get the most out of her tennis career before becoming a member of her family's international trade business.
Sveva Mazzari â€" San Remo, Italy
Sveva Mazzari comes to Houston from Emory & Henry College in Emory, Va., where she spent her first two season. Despite having her freshman season cut short due to injury, Mazzari rebounded in a big way, compiling an 18-1 overall singles record in 2015-16, with straight-set wins in each while playing from the No. 1 position. After suffering a loss on Oct. 2, Mazzari won 15 straight matches to close out the campaign en route to being named the 2016 VaSID All-State Women's Tennis College Division Player of the Year.
In her spare time, Mazzari enjoys playing with her cat and hanging out with her friends as well as eating lots of chocolate and gelato.
Zainab Williams â€" Orpington, Kent, England
Zainab Williams joins the Cougars from The Priory School in Orpington, Kent, in the United Kingdom. While playing in England, Williams was ranked among the top-10 athletes in her age group for both U16 and U18. Williams was the winner of five Grade 3 tournaments (regional competitions), while finishing as a finalist of the Halton Grade 2 and a semi-finals of the Queens Wood British Tour Grade 1, one of the top tournaments in the U.K.
Williams is also an experienced netball player as well as the runner up in the 100-meter dash in her regional finals in track.
Williams loves spending time with her siblings and friends in her spare time, and she also likes to draw and travel. She hopes to become a professional tennis player after college, but when her career is over, she would like to be a physiotherapist.
JOIN THE CENTER COURT CLUB
The Cougars are proud to introduce the Center Court Club, a restricted-giving program that directly impacts the needs of the University of Houston Tennis program. Gifts to the Center Court Club provide financial support directly to the University of Houston Tennis program for needs beyond the program's operating budget. Revenue generated from the Center Court Club is used at the discretion of the Head Coach for program enhancements. Membership in the Center Court Club is annual and requires a minimum $100 gift.
LEVELS OF GIVING
WINNER
For a minimum gift of $100, supporters receive a team poster and a signed tennis ball.
ACE
For a minimum gift of $500, supporters receive a team poster and a signed tennis ball, private practice invitation and a stadium blanket.
US OPEN
For a minimum gift of $1,000, supporters receive a team poster and a signed tennis ball, private practice invitation, a stadium blanket, fleece jacket and a lesson from the coach.
GRAND SLAM
For a minimum gift of $2,500, supporters receive a team poster and a signed tennis ball, private practice invitation, a stadium blanket, fleece jacket, a lesson from the coach and a group lesson from the coaching staff.
FOLLOW THE COUGARS!
Fans can keep up with the latest in University of Houston Cougar athletics by following us on Facebook (Facebook.com/HoustonAthletics), Twitter (@UHCougars), Instagram (houstoncougars) and YouTube.com (Youtube.com/UHAthletics). In addition, the women's tennis team has established its own official Facebook (Facebook.com/HoustonCougarTennis) and Twitter pages (@UHCougarTennis).
