Houston tennis rebounds during Big 12 road weekend

No. 43 Houston tennis traveled to face Kansas on March 20, followed by the Iowa State Cyclones on March 22. 

Houston entered the weekend with a 12-3 overall record and a 3-3 Big 12 mark, while the Jayhawks stood at 7-7, 3-2 in the Big 12, and the Cyclones at 2-10, 0-5 in the Big 12. The matches were held at the Jayhawk Tennis Center and the Iowa State Tennis Center.

The Cougars looked to secure a conference win on the road and regain the momentum they saw at the beginning of the season, when they opened with 11 consecutive wins. Their first loss came against Arizona State on March 6.

The match against the No. 48 Jayhawks opened with a competitive doubles round. Juniors Iva Sepa and Valeriia Krokhotina fell to Heike Janse Van Vuuren and Meg McCarty, 6-4, on court two. Junior Petja Drame and Elizaveta Morozova evened the score with a 6-2 win on court three against Meriem Ben Ezzedine and Kyoka Kubo.

Houston secured the doubles point after seniors Sophie Schouten and Chems Doha Zeghlouli clinched a 7-6 (2) tiebreak victory on Court one, giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead heading into singles play. The match intensified as both teams battled for control.

Houston earned two singles points from Sepa, who won 7-5, 6-1 against Yerkezhan Arystanbekova on court three, and Krokhotina, who defeated Ben Ezzedine 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on court four. 

Kansas responded in singles play, beginning with Janse Van Vuuren defeating Zeghlouli 6-1, 6-3 on court two. Kubo followed with a win over Morozova on court one, while McCarty and Anna Putilina secured victories on courts five and six. McCarty’s win over Drame clinched the 4-3 team victory for Kansas.

Cougars achieve first conference road win against Iowa State

On Sunday, Houston secured its first Big 12 conference road win since joining the league in 2023 against Iowa State.

The doubles round began on a strong note for the Cougars as Zeghlouli and Schouten earned a 6-3 win over Mari Alberto Vilar and Ashlee Narker. However, Iowa State claimed the doubles point after Stanisla Shulzhenko and Julia Camblor defeated Sepa and Krokhotina 6-4 on court two, followed by Alicia Dale and Gabriella Kellner’s 6-4 win over Drame and Morozova on court three.

Houston proved resilience in singles play, winning four of six matches. Courts 5 and 6 finished first, with Schouten defeating Kellner 6-2, 6-3 and Drame earning a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Dale.

The Cyclones briefly took the lead with wins on Courts 2 and 3. Narker defeated Zeghlouli 6-3, 6-4, followed by Shulzhenko rallying past Sepa 1-6, 6-2, 6-4.

The match ultimately came down to Court 1, where Morozova delivered a momentum-shifting 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 83 Vilar after dropping the first set. The victory secured Houston’s 4-3 win. The Cougars now stand at 13-4 overall and 4-4 in Big 12 play, while Iowa State falls to 2-12, 0-9 Big 12.

Houston returns home March 28 to host No. 21 UCF at 1 p.m., followed by a match against Missouri State on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both matches will be played at the Barbara Wallace Winston Tennis Facility.