Raiders Blank LA Tech, Advance to C-USA Quarterfinals

Thursday, April 18

Houston, TX / George R. Brown Tennis Center

12:30 PM

Middle Tennessee

LA Tech

4/18/2019 2:44:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

7-seed MT to take on 2-seed Rice tomorrow at 10am

HOUSTON, Tex. – In the first round of the Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship, 7-seed Middle Tennessee won over 10-seed LA Tech by a score of 4-1 to advance to Friday's quarterfinal round after a 3.5 hour rain delay.

"We had a great start to the conference tournament," MT head coach Tayo Bailey-Duvall said. "After a long delay due to rain, we got a good warm-up in and worked on staying positive and focused throughout the entire match."

The Blue Raiders will meet 2-seed Rice tomorrow at 10 a.m. in Houston with a spot in the semifinals on the line. The Owls earned a bye to the quarterfinals.

Rice is now 13-7 this year with a 1-5 record away from their home courts and is led by Michaela Haet, the No. 70-ranked singles player in the country. Haet pairs with Linda Huang to be the No. 53-ranked doubles combo in the nation. The Owls also have No. 70-ranked doubles pair in Priya Niezgoda and Anatasia Smirnova.

As for Thursday's win for the Blue Raiders, Marta Peris Herrero and Luisa Zirilli won at No. 3 doubles, 6-0, followed by a 6-0 score on court three to clinch the doubles point by Lee Barnard and Zani Barnard.

In singles, Blue Raiders cruised to dominating wins, making the final score, 4-1, in favor of MT. Lee Barnard was first to finish in singles with a dominate 6-0, 6-0 score, followed by Lidia Burrows at No. 2, 6-3, 6-1. Sonia Chen of LA Tech took the only point for the Bulldogs. The other Barnard twin, Zani finished off the 4-1 win with a 6-1, 6-4 victory on court three. Zirilli and Herrero were both two games away from wins at No. 4 and 5 but were unable to finish.

"We are looking forward to a great match tomorrow against Rice."

Singles competition
1. Sonia Chen (TECH) def. Costanza Magazzini (MT) 6-1, 2-2
2. Lidia Burrows (MT) def. Ana Jover (TECH) 6-3, 6-1
3. Zani Barnard (MT) def. Ilana Tetruashvili (TECH) 6-1, 6-4
4. Luisa Zirilli (MT) vs. Claudia Oravcova (TECH) 6-4, 1-4, unfinished
5. Marta Peris Herrero (MT) vs. Andrea Perez-Lopez (TECH) 6-2, 4-1, unfinished
6. Lee Barnard (MT) def. Alexandria Baldizon (TECH) 6-0, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. Costanza Magazzini/Kim Kermet (MT) def. Sonia Chen/Ilana Tetruashvili (TECH) 4-1
2. Zani Barnard/Lee Barnard (MT) def. Ana Jover/Claudia Oravcova (TECH) 6-0
3. Luisa Zirilli/Marta Peris Herrero (MT) def. Andrea Perez-Lopez/Alexandria Baldizon (TECH) 6-0
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (6,2,1,3)

Social Media
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