Photo courtesy of UH Athletics
The Cougars released their 2025 spring tennis schedule and it features many high-stakes matchups, including contests against 13 teams that finished in the top 75 nationally last season.
The Cougars will kick off the new season with a match against FIU, running from Jan. 10-12.
After that, the team returns home to host North Texas on Jan. 19 before a busy doubleheader on Jan. 26 against Portland and UT Arlington.
The month ends with a home contest against Tarleton State on Jan. 31.
February will see Houston hitting the road for a four-match stretch. They’ll visit Rice on Feb. 5, SMU on Feb. 7, and UTSA on Feb. 16 in their final non-conference matchups of the season.
Big 12 play begins on Feb. 28 with a trip to Oklahoma State, followed by a showdown at Kansas State in Manhattan on March 2.
The Cougars’ first Big 12 home series includes four straight matches at home: TCU on March 7, Baylor on March 9, Kansas on March 14, and Iowa State on March 16.
After that, Houston heads back on the road, facing Texas Tech in Lubbock on March 21 and Colorado in Boulder on March 23.
The Cougars will return home for two more conference games, hosting West Virginia on March 28 and Cincinnati on March 30.
The regular season will conclude with a challenging road trip to Orlando, Fla., to face UCF on April 5, followed by a pair of matches in Utah against the Utes April 10 and BYU April 12.
The Big 12 Conference Championships are set for April 16-20 at the Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas, before the NCAA tournament kicks off on May 3, with the National Championships concluding the season from May 15-18 at the Hurd Tennis Center.
ITA Regional Championship
In the meantime, the Cougars have already shown their potential, collecting seven victories over the first two days of the ITA Texas Regional Championship at TCU’s Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
Junior Gabriela Cortes played a leading role for the Cougars in the qualifying singles draw, where she defeated Sam Houston’s sophomore Sara Sadadinovic 6-2, 6-0 and advanced to the singles Round of 16.
In doubles, Cortes, paired with sophomore Heta Nuutinen, pulled out a thrilling 8-7(2) victory over Texas State’s senior Kiana Graham and graduate Callie Creath to move on to the Doubles Round of 16.
Earlier in the tournament, the duo had easily dispatched UT Arlington’s senior Nika Novikova and freshman Maria Araoz-Gosn 8-1.
Fifth-year player Santa Strombacha kicked off the singles main draw with a strong 7-6(3), 6-0 win over graduate Sofia Franco Salcedo from UIW.
However, Cortes’ tournament run ended in the second round when she was defeated by junior Lizanne Boyer of Texas A&M in three sets, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
In other main draw matches, senior Jeanette Mireles from Texas A&M triumphed over Schouten 7-5, 6-2, Graham edged past Sepa in a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 contest.
In doubles play, Cortes and Nuutinen dominated UT Arlington’s Novikova and Araoz-Gosn, winning easily 8-1.
However, senior Liubov Kostenko and freshman Na Dong from Baylor proved too strong for Sepa and Krokhotina, defeating them 8-5.
Senior Saara Orav and sophomore Nithesa Selvaraj from Rice also claimed a victory over Strombacha and Schouten, 8-4.
Despite these setbacks, Cortes and Nuutinen bounced back with a clutch 8-7(2) win over Graham and Creath of Texas State.
Meanwhile, Strombacha and Schouten rebounded with an 8-1 win over UT Arlington’s freshman Adela Latalova and junior Ioana Dumitrescu.
ITA Sectional Championship
At the ITA Sectional Championship, Strombacha of Houston had a strong showing, defeating junior Vivian Ovrootsky of Texas 6-4, 7-5, and sophomore Tereza Dejnozkova of Iowa 6-4, 6-0.
However, she was bested by junior Nicole Khirin of Texas A&M in a 6-1, 7-6 (0-6) match, and later fell to senior Alina Shcherbinina of Oklahoma 6-0, 2-6, 6-3.
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“Houston tennis closes out fall slate, releases spring schedule ” was originally posted on The Cougar