It all came down to Tina Rupert’s court five matchup, as she delivered with a dramatic, come-from-behind, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory to seal UH’s 4-3 upset win over No. 40 Washington on Sunday.
The freshman’s two singles victories at Washington State and Washington each represented the clinching points for UH, as it was able to earn back-to-back road victories over ranked opponents for the first time since the 2001-02 season, while the Cougars’ win over the Huskies on Sunday marked the program’s highest ranked victory since defeating No. 40 Louisville in 2008.
Washington (8-2) began the match showing why it was considered as one of the top programs in the country, earning 8-2 and 8-3 doubles victories on courts one and two, to claim a 1-0 lead over the Cougars heading into singles play. Senior Celia Fraser and junior Charlotte Phillips improved to 3-0 as a doubles tandem this year, winning their matchup 8-7 over the Huskies.
Track & field
The women’s 4×400-meter relay and the men’s distance medley relay teams wrapped up the Notre Dame Alex Wilson Invitational on Saturday evening.
The team had top three finishes in several individual events. Senior Kiersten Brewer recorded a 7.53 in the 60m dash to place third and tied her personal best time. Kelli Hardnett also took third in the 200m with a season best time of 24.93.
Senior Brittany Wallace led the Cougars with a third place finish in the 400m, clocked at at 53.59. Senior relay teammate Terracia Moody came in at 54.94 to receive a 6th place finish, and freshman Mandy Nolan improved her personal best in the 400m with a time of 57.20.
The women’s 4×400 placed fourth at the meet with a time of 3:40.19, the third best time of the season.
Baseball
After helping contribute to four wins last week, UH senior left-handed pitcher Tyler Ford was named American Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week.
Ford made two appearances during the week’s four wins, which included against at No. 11 Rice, giving him his first win of the season. Ford tossed 5.1 shutout innings and allowed just two hits and zero walks to go along with two strikeouts.
Ford pitched 2.2 shutout relief innings in come-from-behind win vs. Michigan on Sunday afternoon. He allowed just one hit but came in relief of starter sophomore Jared West.
Ford is part of a pitching staff that has shutout opponents in 60.0 of the 64.0 total innings played this season for a 0.84 ERA to lead the league.
