HOUSTON – Sophomore Sandra Kukla advanced to the winners bracket in the gray singles draw at the Rice Invitational on Friday.
Kukla cruised past Lee’s Stephanie Rodriguez in straight sets, but then fell to Baylor’s Jana Bielikova by a score of 6-3, 6-3. Kukla will face Momei Qu from Illinois at noon on Saturday.
Meanwhile, a trio of Roadrunners moved on to the consolation brackets. Sophomore Monika Drabkova and junior Tanya Hasking moved on in the gray singles consolation bracket and sophomore Nathalie Wallin advanced to the blue singles consolation bracket.
Also in action was sophomore Karen Scida in the blue singles bracket. Scida fell to Rice’s Tiffany Lee, 6-2, 7-6, but regrouped to defeat Melanie Brown from Prairie View A&M to move on the quarterfinals. Freshman Holly Phillips dropped her match, 6-3, 6-0, to SMU’s Marta Georgiana.
In double action, Scida and Hasking paired up for a hard-fought 9-8 win against Alanna Rodgers and Rebecca Lin of Rice. Phillips and Eva Silvester lost their first match to Lee and Julie Chao of Rice (8-4), while Kukla and Wallin were handed a 8-0 loss by Georgia Tech’s Amanda Craddock and Whitney McCray.
UTSA returns to the courts all day tomorrow.
Singles Results
Blue Draw
Tiffany Lee, Rice def. Karen Scida, UTSA, 6-2, 7-6
Karen Scida, UTSA def. Melanie Brown, PVAMU, w/o
Christine Dao, Rice def. Nathalie Wallin, UTSA, 6-2, 6-2
Kalei Gora, Lee def. Nathalie Wallin, UTSA, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
Gray Draw
Rebecca Lin, Rice def. Tanya Hasking, UTSA, 6-2, 6-0
Jen Shay, SMU def. Tanya Hasking, UTSA, 6-4, 6-4
Christy Striplin, GT def. Monika Drabkova, UTSA, 6-0, 6-0
Emily Braid, Rice def. Monika Drabkova, UTSA, 7-5, 6-2
Sandra Kukla, UTSA def. Stephanie Rodriguez, Lee, 6-1, 6-0
Jana Bielikova, Baylor def. Sandra Kukla, UTSA, 6-3, 6-3
White Draw
Marta Georgiana, SMU def. Holly Phillips, 6-3, 6-0
Doubles Results
Blue Draw
McCray/Craddock, GT def. Kukla/Wallin, UTSA, 8-0
Chao/Lee, Rice def. Phillips/Silvester, UTSA, 8-4
Scida/Hasking, UTSA def. Rodgers/Lin, Rice, 9-8