Lady Bulldogs Venture To Texas For Matches With Rice and SMU
MState's match with Rice is set for 3 p.m. at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on the RU campus. The Owls sport a 2-4 record on the 2006 campaign and a No. 55 ranking in this week's Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings. RU posted wins over Lamar and Texas A&M Corpus Christi. They have faced 12th-ranked UCLA and 28th-ranked Pepperdine. In their last outing, RU dropped a 4-3 decision to No. 42 LSU.
Sunday's match with SMU will get underway at 10:30 a.m. at Haggar Tennis Stadium. The Mustangs are ranked 65th in the country after falling to Arizona last Saturday.
State is led by senior Anastasia Kugakolova with a 1-1 mark at the No. 1 position. Freshman Martina Banikova is 2-0 playing the No. 4 spot. In doubles, the pairing of Kugakolova and Polina Kokoulina is off to a 2-0 start in dual match competition.
After this weekend's road trip, the Lady Bulldogs return home to begin a five-match homestand starting Thursday, Feb. 16 at 3 p.m. against the Blazers of UAB.