April 10, 2009
DALLAS (SMU)-SMU women's tennis (24-2) concluded their regular season competition with a win (5-2) over Rice at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on Friday, April 10 to remain undefeated in Conference USA play.
The No. 22 Mustangs collected the doubles point to set the tone for the match, with No. 22 freshman pair Marta Lesniak and Aleksandra Malyarchikova handily beating (8-2) Owl tandem Julia Chao and Ana Guzman to improve their record to an impressive 11-0. On court three, junior Nicole Briceno and senior Kseniia Tokarieva bettered their win streak to 15 with a gritty win (9-7) against Alex Rasch and Rebekka Hanle.
In singles competition, nationally-ranked No. 58 Lesniak ousted Chao at the number one spot in straight sets (6-3, 6-2), while No. 114 Malyarchikova battled her way through an intense three-setter for a victory over Guzman. Malyarchikova dropped the first set in a tiebreaker to rebound for the comeback in a demanding third set (6-7, 6-4, 1-0 (12-10). Briceno and Tokarieva picked up wins on courts five and six to seal the Mustang victory.
The Mustangs head into the C-USA tournament on Thursday, April 16 held at Rice in the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium with their first match to be determined.
SMU vs Rice4/10/2009 at Houston, Texas
#22 SMU 5, Rice 2
Singles competition1. #58 Marta Lesniak (SMU) def. Julie Chao (RICE) 6-3, 6-22. Rebekka Hänle (RICE) def. Natalia Bubien (SMU) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5)3. #114 Aleks Malyarschikova (SMU) def. Ana Guzman (RICE) 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 1-0 (12-10)4. Jessica Jackson (RICE) def. Pavi Francis (SMU) 7-5, 2-6, 1-0 (10-5)5. Nicole Briceno (SMU) def. Alex Rasch (RICE) 6-1, 6-36. Kseniia Tokarieva (SMU) def. Emily Braid (RICE) 6-3, 6-1
Doubles competition1. Marta Lesniak/Aleks Malyarschikova (SMU) def. Julie Chao/Ana Guzman (RICE) 8-22. Jessica Jackson/Rebecca Lin (RICE) def. Natalia Bubien/Pavi Francis (SMU) 8-53. Nicole Briceno/Kseniia Tokarieva (SMU) def. Alex Rasch/Rebekka Hänle (RICE) 9-7
Match Notes:SMU 23-2 (3-0); National ranking #22Rice 10-10 (0-1)Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (6,1,5,2,4,3)
