The Cougars will be looking to bounce back from their first home loss this season when they take on Southeastern Louisiana Wednesday at John E. Hoff Courts.
UH (3-1) lost 6-1 to Northwestern State Feb. 21, a talented team that outplayed the Cougars in both doubles and singles matches.
Freshman Bryony Hunter earned a singles win to improve her singles record on the season to 3-0. Hunter bested the Lady Demons’ Olga Bazhanova in a split decision, 4-6, 7-5 and 10-8.
Hunter’s perfect start to this season is no surprise to head coach John Severance.
“Well, of course I’m impressed. That was the blueprint — for her to develop in the fall and come out and have a good spring season,” Severance said. “She has a lot of talent and a lot of fire power.”
Southeastern Louisiana (2-5) is up next, and the Lady Lions have been struggling. The Lions have dropped five of their last six matches following a 7-0 home win over Alcorn State on Jan. 31.
Severance knows the Cougars will have to take advantage of the Lions’ weaknesses.
“I guess every match is important for us, but it is equally important to get back to our winning ways at home,” Severance said. “This match, hopefully we can get through it and give us some confidence for a lengthy road journey.”
This will be the ninth stop on a 10-game road trip for the Lions. Their only win so far was a 7-0 decision over Jackson State on Feb. 21.
“They can be either really getting into a groove or getting really tired,” Severance said. “We’re preparing for them to be pretty grooved, and we’re expecting a tough match.”
The Cougars should face a drained Lions team, considering it played at Texas-San Antonio Tuesday.
“I think we match up well with a lot of teams on our schedule if we are playing right, and we’ve worked on a few things that we needed to work on, and I believe we’re ready,” Severance said.
Wednesday’s contest will finish a five-game home stand for UH. Next, the Cougars will embark on their own lengthy road trip and won’t return home until they take on Prairie View A&M on April 3.
“I think if we go out and play with more discipline and more enthusiasm — I was happy with our enthusiasm (by the way) — we will get the result we want,” Severance said.
