HOUSTON, TX—The No. 51 University of New Mexico women’s tennis team took on a No. 40 ranked Rice team today and pulled off its third upset of the season. The Lobos defeated the Owls 4-3.
In doubles play, Emily Olivier and Dominique Dulski teamed up to get the first win for the Lobos when they defeated Lindsey Hodge and Alison Ho 6-4. They competed at the number one position.
At the number two spot, Andrea Leblanc and Rachana Bhat took on Katherine Ip and Emily Smith. The Lobos fought hard, all the way to a tiebreaker where they fell 7-5.
To clinch the doubles point for New Mexico, Sharon Coone and Ludivine Burguiere had to come together to defeat Savannah Durkin and Solomiya Zinko. The Lobos took the Owls to an exited tiebreaker where they pulled ahead to win 10-8.
In singles play, Olivier fell to Hodge 6-3, 6-1. Hodge is ranked No. 81 in singles and the two competed at the number one position. The Lobos fell a point behind when Bhat fell to Zinko at the number six position.
At the number four spot, Burguiere topped Ho 6-3, 6-3. Shortly after, teammate Dulski defeated Smith at the number three positon. In her first set, the two battled to a tiebreaker where Dulski won 8-6. She kept the momentum and defeated her 6-3 in the second set.
At this point, New Mexico needed one more win to clinch the upset over Rice. Leblanc, who is ranked No. 120 in singles play, took on Ip at the number two position. Ip is ranked No. 31 in singles. Leblanc won the first set 7-5, and continued to play hard in the second to win 6-3. She pulled off an upset in singles and clinched the match for the Lobos, helping them upset Rice.
The remaining match was at the number five position where Coone took Durkin to three set, but fell 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.
“I am exceptionally pleased with our total team effort,” said head coach Kelcy McKenna. “After having match points and coming up short against Houston, the girls showed tremendous resiliency and fight to win today.”
The Lobos look forward to next weekend where they head back to Texas to take on North Texas and UT Arlington.
Women’s Tennis Upsets No. 40 Rice
