BOX SCORE   SEASON STATS

ORLANDO, Fla. (SMU) - SMU Women's Tennis took down third-seeded Houston, 4-1, on Thursday from the American Athletic Conference Championship. The win punched the Mustangs ticket to the semifinals where they will face USF on Friday at 1 p.m. CT.
 
The Mustangs started the match with a impressive win in doubles that included a pair of 6-1 victories from Karina Traxler/Tiffany Hollebeck on No. 1 and Avery Aude/Vivienne Kulicke on No. 3. Ana Perez-Lopez and Sarai Monarrez Yesaki were leading 4-3 when the Mustangs secured the point.
 
In singles play, the senior Kulicke raced out to a quick victory on No. 1. After winning the first set, 6-3, Kulicke dominated the second, 6-1, to earn the second point of the afternoon. Kulicke is a perfect 4-0 from the top line this season. Perez lost the first two games of her match before coming back win the next five and eventually the set. She broke her opponent four times in set two to finish off her win and put SMU within one point of knocking off the Cougars.
 
Monarrez Yesaki dropped her match for the lone Houston point behind a pair of 6-4 scores.

Traxler capped the win with a victory on No.  4. Facing a deciding point at 5-4 in the second set, the senior won the point and clinched the Mustangs' spot in the semifinals for the fifth consecutive season.
 
Hollebeck was nearing victory in set three at the time of clinch while Liza Buss was locked in a battle for the middle set.
 
The win brought SMU to 11-11 on the season and was their fourth consecutive victory. The Mustangs are the second team seeded six or higher to reach the conference semis in the six years of the tournament.
 
The matchup with USF is a rematch for the Mustangs as the two teams faced off in Tampa earlier this season with the Bulls winning, 4-1. South Florida has one ranked singles player in Ana Roman Dominguez, No. 58. They finished the season with a 4-4 record in conference play, though they dropped the last two matches of the regular season to Houston and UCF.