SAN ANTONIO — The UTSA women's tennis team will play its first dual matches of the 2017 campaign away from the friendly confines of the Alamo City when they travel to Houston this weekend for a pair of contests. It will mark the beginning of a six-match road trip.
The Roadrunners (4-2), who ended a six-match home stand last weekend, will take on No. 23 Rice (5-2) at 1 p.m. on Friday before squaring off with Colorado (7-2) in a neutral-site contest at noon the following day. UTSA never has defeated the Owls in 10 previous meetings, while the Birds and Buffs have split a pair of matchups.
The Roadrunners are coming off a split of last weekend's two outings against former Southland Conference foes. UTSA cruised past Stephen F. Austin last Saturday by a score of 6-1 before dropping a 4-3 decision the following day against Northwestern State.
Miriam Rosell Canudas, who had been nationally-ranked in singles the entire season up until Tuesday, continues to lead the Roadrunners with her perfect 6-0 record this spring and she also has teamed up with Kylee Kato for a spotless 6-0 mark as the squad's top doubles tandem. Lina Hallgren and Charleen Tiwari also are undefeated at No. 3 doubles with a ledger of 4-0.
Rice, which entered the national rankings on Tuesday, comes into Friday's tilt having won four of its past five matches. The Owls are led by three players — Alison Ho (4-2), Lindsey Hodge (4-1) and Wendy Zheng (4-2) — that have four victories apiece this spring. Meanwhile, the tandems of Ho and Priya Niezgoda and Savannah Durkin and Katherine Ip both boast 4-1 marks in doubles play.
Colorado, which saw a three-match winning streak come to an end last Sunday against UTEP, has a trio of players — Annabelle Andrinopoulos (7-1), Nuria Ormeno Ruiz (7-2) and Louise Ronaldson (7-1) — who own seven singles triumphs this season. Andrinopoulos and Ilana Oleynik make up the club's top doubles pair with a 3-1 mark.
