Maja Kazimieruk (right) is tied with Giorgia Pozzan for the team lead in singles wins with 11 this spring. | Catherine Lara/The Daily Cougar
The Cougars had their three-match win streak snapped by No. 31 Tulsa last weekend in a 7-0 contest to fall to 9-7 this spring.
“Looking back at it now, I don’t think we played poorly,” head coach John Severance said. “I think we played pretty good but we didn’t step up to the level of competition we knew we were going to face.
“We’re going to have to step our game up to compete at that level.”
Despite not earning a point during the contest, UH competed with nationally-ranked players.
“Ballstrike with ballstrike, we were right there with them,” Severance said. “I think they were a tad more disciplined.
“They had a bit more confidence and I think that’s where they beat us.”
In doubles, Bryony Hunter and Giorgia Pozzan almost came back against Tulsa’s 69th ranked doubles tandem, but lost while the duo of Laura Ring and Liselot Koenen were handed their second loss of the season. Singles saw Pozzan and Celia Fraser take 11-straight games off top-100 ranked players, while Maja Kazimieruk saw her six-match win streak snapped. UH only has a handful of matches left and Severance intends on winning out
“We just have to fine tune out game a bit and know that we have to win out in order to get a good seed in conference,” he said.
Despite the stiff competition, Kazimieruk’s play stood out. She is 11-4 this spring and has solidified the No. 5 and 5 positions for UH.
“She has played solid disciplined ball so far and im expecting her to jump up in the lineup a bit,” Severance said. “We really have to be solid at the four, five, six positions”
The Cougars play their home finale on Sunday against t UT-Pan American at the John E. Hoff courts.
