UH tennis senior Phonexay Chitdara celebrates during a competition. Chitdara was one of two seniors recognized during senior day on Friday. | Courtesy of UH athletics
The Houston tennis team was back home for the weekend as they took on Prairie View A&M in a doubleheader on Friday and SMU on Sunday at the Barbara Wallace Winston Tennis Facility.
The Cougars were able to pick up wins No. 13 and 14 on the weekend, making this the most victories the team has had since the 2018-19 season, in which the Cougars finished 14-7.
Here’s how the weekend went for the Cougars:
Prairie View A&M – Match one
The UH tennis program (14-6, 3-2 American Athletic Conference) was able to sweep through the Prairie View A&M Panthers (8-18, 6-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference) with a dominating performance on Friday.
The first match doubles kicked things off with the red-hot pairing of sophomore Azul Pedemonti and freshman Blanca Cortijo Parreno, who defeated the Panthers duo of senior Jessica Lackey and redshirt freshman Ruji Chauhan in a 6-0 shutout.
UH senior Phonexay Chitdara and junior Sophie Gerits secured the point for the Cougars with a dominant performance as well over Salma Sanchez Villalobos and Claudia Andrea Islas Medina, winning 6-1 in the contest.
Match one’s singles were a clean sweep for the Cougars, winning all six of the matches taking place and securing the 7-0 sweep on the day.
Both Gerits and Chitdara continued their big day with Gerits winning in a 6-0, 6-0 sweep over Chauhan to start, and the onslaught continued with Chitdara’s 6-1, 6-1 win over Prairie View junior Mahogani Green.
Senior Mimi Kendall-Woseley had a tight win over Prairie View sophomore Victoria Fuenmayor Castillo in a match that went to three sets, which completed the first match sweep for the Cougars.
Prairie View A&M – Match two
The Cougars celebrated their senior day in between the two matches on Friday, honoring seniors Kendall-Woseley and Phonexay Chitdara, who both transferred into the program together in 2019.
UH tennis got right back to it after the celebration, winning yet another match in sweeping fashion with a 4-0 victory.
Pedemonti and Parreno got their second doubles win together on the day with another 6-0 shutout over Lackey and Chauhan.
Chitdara got her second doubles win on the day as well, this time paired with freshman Gabriela Giraldo.
The dominance continued in the singles, with the Cougars yet again winning the first three to secure the win with big performances across the board.
Freshman Laura Slisane defeated Chauhan in a 6-0, 6-2 win and Chitdara got yet another win on the day with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Green.
UH tennis junior Stephanie Belevukovic was the third Cougars’ player to win two singles matches on the day.
SMU
The Cougars wrapped up their weekend against the SMU Mustangs (19-9, 7-1 AAC) where they fell 4-2 on the day in the final conference match on Sunday.
Doubles began with Perreno and Pedemonti falling big to the Mustang pairing of senior Nicole Petchey and freshman Winslow Huth, losing 6-1 in the contest.
Kendall-Woseley and Slisane were able to pick up the next match with a 7-5 win over the 46-ranked pairing of sophomores Jacky Nylander and Hadley Doyle in a tight contest.
The Cougars ultimately lost the point after Chitdara and Gerits fell in yet another tight match for the tiebreaker, this battle finishing with the Mustangs on top 12-10.
The singles were a back-and-forth affair with sophmore Stephanie Belovukovic falling first (6-1, 6-1) to Petchey, and then Chitdara getting one right back with a big win (6-3, 6-2) over the redshirt senior Chandler Carter.
Kendall-Woseley fell to No. 90 Nylander in a 6-0, 6-2 rout, with Slisane following with a big (7-6, 6-2) win over Huth to keep the Cougars hopes alive.
The final match for the Mustang win came in a thriller, with Gerits falling (6-4, 7-6, 12-10) to Doyle for the Mustangs’ victory, making this the second match of the day to go to 12 points.
Only one match went unfinished on the day.
The Cougars will travel to Beaumont where they will meet with Lamar on April 14, and will return to Houston on April 17 to face Rice in the season finale.
