Gabriela Cortes began the season going undefeated in both doubles and singles play at The Houston Invitational. | Oscar Herrera/The Cougar
UH tennis began the year with a three-day event at the Houston Invitational, picking up a bevy of wins during the weekend.
Day 1
With players from Air Force, UT Arlington and Rice competing in the tournament, UH began the Houston Invitational in dominant fashion by winning all eight of its singles matches.
Five Cougars, including sophomore Gabriela Cortes and senior Laura Slisane, won their matches in straight sets. Freshman Nina Skoric also made her collegiate debut in a three-set win, 5-7, 6-3, 10-2.
UH then went three out of four in its doubles matches, with the sophomore/junior duos of Cortes and junior Elena Trencheva and Sonya Kovalenko and Maria Dzemeshkevich capturing 6-2 victories.
Day 2
On the second day of competition, the Cougars won six of their singles matches and once again grabbed three more doubles victories.
Kovalenko and sophomore Sophie Schouten both battled in close singles matches, winning their decisive third sets 10-8. Skoric won her first straight-set match after winning a tiebreaker in the first set, and Cortes dominated on the way to a 6-0, 6-2 win.
The three UH duos that won their doubles matches in day one continued their success in day two to close out doubles play.
Day 3
Three Cougars — Cortes, Schouten and Kovalenko — closed out their weekend undefeated, accounting for half of UH’s singles wins on the final day of competition.
Cortes and Kovalenko swept their opponents in straight sets, while Schouten pulled out a close 6-2, 4-6, 10-3 win to cap her weekend.
Senior Blanca Cortijo Parreno, Trencheva and Dzemeshkevich all took home straight set victories to close the tournament, though Skoric narrowly lost a three-set thriller.
UH’s next event will begin in Oct. 13 at the ITA Texas Regionals.
