The young Cougars ended the season with victories in their three final matches against Tarleton State, Prairie View A’M and Southern on Saturday. Houston ended the regular season with a 15-10 overall record and will continue competing in the Conference USA tournament they host this weekend at John E. Hoff Courts.
"I think we’ve improved a ton, and it showed when we knocked off the top 40 team in Louisville (in March) what our potential could be," UH head coach John Severance said. "We’re very excited about hosting the conference championship and having the ability to win the conference championship and move on to the post season."
The last two games of the season ended with shut out victories over Prairie View A’M and Southern.
Cougar freshman Lucy Forward teamed up with junior Jordan McCombs to defeat Southern sophomore Megan Wiltz and freshman Kathryn Curtis 8-4 in the No.1 doubles competition. Junior Lynley Wasson and freshman Joanna Kacprzyk were victorious in No. 2 doubles against Jaguars junior Bethlehem Workeneh and sophomore Janelle Mosley, 8-4. Junior Vicky Simpson and senior Leila Salek overpowered sophomore Gabrielle Marshall and senior Sidney Lartique in No. 3 doubles 8-1.
Houston’s Simpson whitewashed Lartique in No. 5 singles as she went 6-0, 6-0 while teammate Wasson won against Workeneh, dropping only two points at No. 4 singles (6-1,6-1). The Cougars’ Kacprzyk tamed Southern’s Marshall at No. 6 singles competition 7-5, 6-0.
The Cougars flew past both the Panthers and the Jaguars without having to compete in all the singles matches. Houston defeated Prairie View and Southern 4-0. The Cougars won their closest decision earlier in the day against Tarleton State as they defeated the TexAnns 5-2.
"We were pleased to get three wins. At the end of the day three wins is all that counts," Severance said.
The Cougar netters are focused on preparing mentally and physically for the conference tournament and look to take what they have learned from the regular season into it, he said.
Severance will take his young team into the conference tournament match against Texas-El Paso with great expectations.
"We are looking forward to (the match against El Paso). We expect a good match because they are a good team, but they are in our way to a conference championship, so we are going to go in there and try to take care of business and push them around a little bit," Severance said.
The Cougars begin C-USA championship competition at 2 p.m. Thursday at John E. Hoff courts.
