Hogs Take on First day of H-E-B Tournament

The Arkansas women’s tennis team had a strong first day to the Baylor Invitational tournament down in Waco, Texas. The day started out with two rounds of double before the ladies hit the singles court.

DOUBLES PLAY:

Keller and Rijkers teamed up to compete together for the first time in their Razorback careers. The Hogs won their first round match vs the Texas – San Antonio pairing Baroja and Menon 6-2 to advance to the round of 16. Claire Slaughter and Myrna Olaya also made their career doubles debut today when they took on Auburn’s Chen and Song. The Tigers proved too much for the hogs today and snagged the win 6-2. With a short turn around both Razorback doubles teams hit the courts again for their second doubles matches.

The duo of Keller and Rijkers were set to face seventh seeds Axon and Ansari from Auburn in the R16 while Olaya and Slaughter took on UTSA’s Baroja and Menon in a consolation match. With laser-like execution Keller and Rijkers took down seventh seed Axon and Ansari 6-3 to secure their spot in the Quarter Finals. Keller and Rijkers take on third seeds Lexi Ryngler and Tijana Spasojevic from Texas at 9 a.m. Saturday. Olaya and Slaughter will play another doubles consolation match vs a pairing from Illinois.

SINGLES PLAY:

Freshman Kelly Keller and Sophomore Laura Rijkers represented the Hogs in the singles Gold draw while Senior Myrna Olaya and freshman Claire Slaughter made their showing in the singles Green draw. Singles play started with Olaya and Slaughter. Olaya faced off against Laura Baroja from UTSA who pulled away with a 6-1 6-1 win over the Razorback. Freshman Slaughter took on Senior Karen Alvarez from Iowa State in a two hour battle that saw the Razorbacks claiming the match in a hard fought 6-7(0) 7-5 10-8 win over the Cyclone. Olaya and Slaughter will play their second round main and consolation matches tomorrow following doubles play.

Rijkers and Keller had a tough start to the day in the Gold Singles draw as they took on quality opponents. Rijkers battled against Faa-Hviding from Texas A&M but eventually fell 7-5 6-1. Razorback rookie, Kelly Keller, faced Chitdara Phonexay from University of Houston in her first round match. After fighting back from a slow start in the first set, Keller eventually fell 6-0 7-6(5) to the Cougar. Both Rijkers and Keller finished the day with a consolation singles match. Rijkers took on Kentucky’s Carla Girbau in an epic three setter that the Wildcat eventually clinched 4-6 6-3 10-7. On the next court Freshman Keller took on LSU’s Anna Loughlan in a straight set battle that saw the Razorback take the win 6-4 7-6(5)

WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO:

You will see Keller and Rijkers tomorrow at 9 a.m. in the Quarterfinals of the doubles draw against third seeds from Texas., Slaughter will take on Shivani Ingle from Illinois at 11:30 a.m. while Olaya takes on Gandawidjaja also from Illinois in the Green draw consolation. Keller will hit the singles court in the Gold Draw consolation against Josie Frazier from Illinois, and Rijkers will compete in a consolation match following the conclusion of doubles play.

For more information on Arkansas women’s tennis follow @RazorbackWTEN on twitter and Instagram.