SMU Women’s Tennis Falls To Rice

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HOUSTON (SMU) — The No. 51 SMU women’s tennis team pushed No. 26 Rice, but fell 5-2 after Rice won the final two singles matches in three sets. The Mustangs’ (11-9) duo of Vaszilisza Bulgakova and Aleksandra Malyarchikova defeated the No. 17 tandem from Rice. Malyarchikova, ranked No. 77 in singles, followed with a straight sets win over No. 72 Dominique Harmath.

“This was a great college tennis match,” said head coach Kati Gyulai. “We put ourselves in the position to win. Will move forward from the loss and look forward to our final regular season match on Wednesday.”

Rice won the doubles point by taking matches at No. 2 and No. 3. At the top spot, Bulgakova and Malyarchikova won 8-6 over the No. 17 tandem from Rice of Natalie Beazant and Harmath. It is their second straight win over a ranked pair; they knocked off the No. 47 duo from TCU on Wednesday. This marked the 75th career doubles win for Malyarchikova, which ties her for fourth at SMU.

In singles, No. 77 Malyarchikova improved to 5-3 against ranked opponents this year with a 6-2, 6-2 win against No. 72 Harmath in the No. 2 singles matchup. It was her second win this week over a ranked foe as she now has 84 career singles victories, which is eighth for the Mustangs. Elena Faynerrecorded the other victory for SMU, winning 6-3, 6-0 at No. 4 singles.

Rice defeated the Mustangs in three sets in two different singles matches. Liat Zimmermann of Rice defeated Bulgakova 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the No. 3 matchup. At the No. 6 line, Rice’s Solomiya Zinko rallied over Yana Erkeeva 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0.

The Mustangs host UT-Arlington at Northwood Country Club on Wednesday at 4 p.m. It is SMU’s regular-season finale and senior day for Aleksandra Malyarchikova and Edyta Cieplucha.

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