Tennis

Four in a row

Junior Maja Kazimieruk sealed the 5-1 victory for the Cougars, taking out Sam Houston State’s Kayla Stevenson 6-1, 6-3.  |  Catherine Lara/The Daily Cougar

Junior Maja Kazimieruk sealed the 5-1 victory for the Cougars, taking out Sam Houston State’s Kayla Stevenson 6-1, 6-3. | Catherine Lara/The Daily Cougar

The Cougars’ winning ways continued Saturday.

UH extended its winning streak to four matches with an easy 5-1 decision over Sam Houston State in an indoors match at the Galleria Tennis and Athletic Club.

“I thought they would be the better team indoors,” head coach John Severance said. “I’m proud of the way we’ve responded lately and we’re playing good tennis right now.”

The Cougars have bounced back from an 0-2 start this season to win their last four matches by a 23-4 margin.

“We’re finally starting to come together as a team and do the stuff that we are capable of doing,” Severance said. “We’ve really cut down on the errors.”

The key ingredient to UH’s recent dominance has been its ability to dominate opponents 1-6, “top to bottom” as Severance put it.

“I don’t really think one player has taken off, but more our play has elevated from top to bottom,” he said.

Against the Bearkats, senior Giorgia Pozzan won the opener 6-2, 6-1 to record her fifth straight victory and improved to 5-1 overall in singles matches.

Sophomore Celia Fraser, the heroine of last week’s matches, won her match 6-1, 6-4 to record her fourth straight win and improved to 4-2 overall this spring.

Houston’s Bryony Hunter, Maja Kazimeriuk and Charlotte Phillips also won their matches continuing to make the case for a national ranking, which is coach Severance’s goal for the program this spring.

On Friday, UH looks to extend their winning streak against Southeastern Louisiana State, one of the top programs in the Southland Conference.

“We haven’t played them in two years and they are a strong program, but we expect to come out with the result we want after the match.” Coach Severance said of the upcoming contest.

The Cougars will be in action noon Friday in Hammond, La., before taking on Conference USA opponent Tulane on Saturday.

[email protected]

Leave a Comment