No. 36 Houston found success on the road with sweeps against the Big 12’s bottom two teams, West Virginia and Cincinnati.
On Friday, April 10, Houston traveled to Morgantown, W.Va. The Cougars followed with Sunday’s match at the Trabert-Talbert Tennis Center in Cincinnati, where they completed the weekend sweep to close out the regular season.
Cougars sweep Cincinnati
In Friday’s match, Houston secured the doubles point with a 2-1 advantage. Juniors Valeriia Krokhotina and Iva Sepa won 6-0 on court three, while juniors Elizaveta Morozova and Petja Drame defeated freshman Lucia Tognoni and sophomore Laura V. Morillo 6-4 on court two.
Senior duo Sophie Schouten and Chems Doha Zeghlouli fell 6-4 on court one to graduate Julie Bousseau and senior Audrey Moutama.
In singles play, Schouten was the first Cougar to finish, earning her 15th win of the season with a 6-2, 6-4 victory on court six. Houston clinched additional points on courts four and five, with Drame winning 6-4, 6-3, and Sepa finishing 6-3, 6-3 for her fourth consecutive victory.
Cougars close out regular season with win over West Virginia
On Sunday, April 12, Houston wrapped up its regular season against Cincinnati. Notably, West Virginia’s only conference win this season came against Cincinnati on March 28.
Sepa and Krokhotina opened doubles play with a 6-2 win on court three over junior and sophomore pair Morgan Pyrz and Milica Popovski. Schouten and Zeghlouli followed with a 6-4 victory on court one to secure the doubles point.
Junior Gabrielle Guenther and freshman Tara Kurepa defeated Drame and Morozova 6-2 on court two, as Houston finished doubles with a 2-1 edge.
In the singles round, Krokhotina made a fierce impression as she finished first, 6-1, 6-2, on court against junior Sakurako Watanabe.
Sepa outbested Kurepa on court four, 6-0, 6-4. Fans watched in anticipation on court five as Schouten attempted to secure a second-set tiebreaker against her opponent, Popovski. She was able to come out on top with a 6-0, 7-6(2) win.
What’s next?
The Cougars will travel to Orlando, Fla., to compete in the Big 12 tournament against Texas Tech on Wednesday at 9 a.m.Houston will enter the tournament at the No. 7 seed while Texas Tech sits at No. 10. The winner of the match will advance to play No. 2 Arizona State.
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