HOUSTON, APRIL 5, 2019 – No. 47 USF fell to Rice, 4-0, at a neutral match in Houston at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
 
USF (10-8, 4-0 AAC) dropped the doubles point despite a win on court two by doubles duo freshman Amelie Boy (Trianon, Mauritis), and senior Ana Roman Dominguez (Burgos, Spain), 6-2.
 
Freshman Laura Pellicer Perello, (Gandia, Valencia, Spain), was the first Bull to fall, losing on court three 6-0, 6-1, to Anastasia Smirnova. Rice (11-7) extended its lead with a win over 
senior Vanja Klaric (Gaborone, Botswana), 6-3, 6-3, on court two. No. 48 Roman Dominguez fell for just the third time this season, losing to No. 109 Michaela Haet 6-1, 6-2, on court one, in her eigth ranked matchup of the season.
 
Three matches went unfinished. On court four Boy and Anna Bowtell, on court five senior Nicole Dzenga (Harare, Zimbabwe) and Linda Huang, and on court six sophomore Alexandria Mjos (Austin, Texas), and Diae El Jardi.
 
Quotable
Head coach Cristina Moros on Sunday's victory:
"We just got beat today, plain and simple. If we are the team I believe we are, a loss like this will motivate us to be much better the next two days."
 
Match Results:
Singles competition:
1. #109 Michaela Haet (RICE) def. #46 ROMAN, Ana (USF) 6-1, 6-2
2. Victoria Smirnova (RICE) def. KLARIC, Vanja (USF) 6-3, 6-3
3. Anastasia Smirnova (RICE) def. PELLICER PERELLO, L (USF) 6-0, 6-1
4. Anna Bowtell (RICE) vs. BOY, Amelie (USF) 6-0, 5-5, unfinished
5. DZENGA, Nicole (USF) vs. Linda Huang (RICE) 6-4, 4-2, unfinished
6. MJOS, Alexandria (USF) vs. Diae El Jardi (RICE) 6-3, 3-1, unfinished
 
Doubles competition:
1. #66 Michaela Haet/Linda Huang (RICE) def. DZENGA, Nicole/KLARIC, Vanja (USF) 7-5
2. BOY, Amelie/ROMAN, Ana (USF) def. Anna Bowtell/Victoria Smirnova (RICE) 6-2
3. Anastasia Smirnova/Diae El Jardi (RICE) def. CLARK, Janvhi/PELLICER PERELLO, Laura (USF) 6-2
 
Match Notes:
South Florida 10-8
Rice 11-7
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (3,2,1) A-83
 
Up Next:
USF will play FIU in a neutral match in Houston at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

Be sure to follow USF women's tennis on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information. Head coach Cristina Moros will be in her fifth year at the helm, as she led the program to an American Athletic Conference Championship in 2017.