HOUSTON — UTSA picked up a total of 14 victories — seven in singles play and another seven in doubles action — at last weekend's Rice Invitational, which was played at the George Brown Tennis Center on the campus of Rice University.
Leading the way was three-time All-Conference USA honoree Miriam Rosell Canudas. The senior from Torello, Spain, dropped her opening Flight 1A singles match to All-American Katherie Ip from Rice, 6-2, 6-0, on Friday, but she bounced back to win a pair of matches later in the weekend. Rosell Canudas downed Texas' Neda Koprcina on Saturday in straight sets (6-1, 6-3) before closing out her tournament on Sunday with another two-set victory, this time against Rice's Wendy Zheng (6-4, 6-3).
The Roadrunners also saw two of their doubles teams make it to finals.
Denisa Ibrahimovic and Chrleen Tiwari downed the Southern Miss duo of Tzu-Hui Chen and Tjasa Jerse, 6-4, in the opening round of Flight 2B on Friday. The pair then earned a walkover victory against Northwestern State's Polina Mutel and Iryna Vardanian in the semifinals before dropping a 7-6 (7-4) decision to Alabama's Danielle Spielmann and Rice's Priya Niezgoda on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Cabrera and Lina Hallgren played for the Flight 3A title.
After opening play with a 6-4 triumph against Sam Houston State's Ema Barkovic and Diane Friedrichs on Friday, they advanced to the final with a 6-0 semifinals victory against Texas State's Alexandra Jones and Ammaarah Tim the next day. However, the duo of Northwestern State's Kateryna Avram and McNeese State's Charoline Erlandsson won the crown by a score of 6-3 later on Saturday.
UTSA will be back in action this weekend at the Arizona Invitational. The three-day tournament is scheduled to begin on Friday, Sept. 30.
2016 Rice Invitational (UTSA results)
Friday, Sept. 23
Singles — Flight 1A Quarterfinals
Katherine Ip (Rice) def. Miriam Rosell Canudas (UTSA) 6-2, 6-0
Singles — Flight 3A Quarterfinals
Fernanda Astete (Rice) def. Denisa Ibranhimovic (UTSA) 6-2, 6-2
Singles — Flight 4A Quarterfinals
Laura Cabrera (UTSA) def. Julia Kral (McNeese State) walkover
Singles — Flight 4B Quarterfinals
Kylee Kato (UTSA) def. Valeria Lopez (UT Arlington) 6-4, 6-1
Singles — Flight 5A Quarterfinals
Kateryna Avram (Northwestern State) def. Lina Hallgren (UTSA) 6-2, 6-3
Singles — Flight 5B Quarterfinals
Mila Milanovic (Sam Houston State) def. Charleen Tiwari (UTSA) 6-2, 6-4
Singles — Flight 6A Quarterfinals
Sonia Madroñal Medina (UTSA) def. Caitlyn Mitchell (Sam Houston State) 6-2, 7-5
Charoline Erlandsson (McNeese State) def. Diya Menon (UTSA) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
Doubles — Flight 1B Quarterfinals
Hinton/Saava (Alabama) def. Kato/Rosell (UTSA) 6-3
Doubles — Flight 2B Quarterfinals
Ibrahimovic/Tiwari (UTSA) def. Chen/Jerse (Southern Miss) 6-4
Madroñal-Medina/Menon (UTSA) def. Clef/Crovetti (Texas) 6-4
Doubles — Flight 3A Quarterfinals
Cabrera/Hallgren (UTSA) def. Barkovic/Friedrichs (Sam Houston State) 6-4
Saturday, Sept. 24
Singles — Flight 1A Consolation Semifinals
Rosell Canudas (UTSA) def. #82 Neda Koprcina (Texas) 6-1, 6-3
Singles — Flight 4A Semifinals
Arisha Ladhani (Denver) def. Cabrera (UTSA) 6-1, 7-6 (7-4)
Singles — Flight 4B Semifinals
Sveva Mazzari (Houston) def. Kato (UTSA) 6-3, 6-4
Singles — Flight 5A Consolation Semifinals
Carrie Casey (Sam Houston State) def. Hallgren (UTSA) 6-2, 6-1
Singles — Flight 5B Consolation Semifinals
Maria Maldonado (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) def. Tiwari (UTSA) 6-0, 6-2
Singles — Flight 6A Semifinals
Gabrielle Robinson (Southern Miss) def. Madroñal Medina (UTSA) 6-2, 6-3
Singles — Flight 6A Consolation Semifinals
Menon (UTSA) def. Sara Jamal (SMU) 6-3, 6-3
Singles — Extra Match
Ibrahimovic (UTSA) def. Ana Perez (Texas State) 6-7 (1-7), 6-4, 1-0 (10-6)
Doubles — Flight 1B Consolation Semifinals
Drescher/Kitchen (Southern Miss) def. Kato/Rosell (UTSA) 6-3
Doubles — Flight 1B Consolation
Kato/Rosell (UTSA) def. Casey/Milanovic (Sam Houston State) 6-4
Doubles — Flight 2B Semifinals
Ibrahimovic/Tiwari (UTSA) def. Mutel/Vardanian (Northwestern State) walkover
Spielmann/Niezgoda (Alabama/Rice) def. Madroñal-Medina/Menon (UTSA) 6-0
Doubles — Flight 2B Final
Spielmann/Niezgoda (Alabama/Rice) def. Ibrahimovic/Tiwari (UTSA) 7-6 (7-4)
Doubles — Flight 2B Consolation
Madroñal-Medina/Menon (UTSA) def. Mutel/Vardanian (Northwestern State) walkover
Doubles — Flight 3A Semifinals
Cabrera/Hallgren (UTSA) def. Jones/Tim (Texas State) 6-0
Doubles — Flight 3A Final
Avram/Erlandsson (Northwestern State/McNeese State) def. Cabrera/Hallgren (UTSA) 6-3
Sunday, Sept. 25
Singles — Flight 1A Consolation
Rosell Canudas (UTSA) def. #58 Wendy Zheng (Rice) 6-4, 6-3
Singles — Flight 5A Consolation
Rikeetha Pereira (Southern Miss) def. Hallgren (UTSA) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
Singles — Flight 6A Consolation
Claudia Castella (Southern Miss) def. Madroñal Medina (UTSA) 6-3, 6-2