HOUSTON, Texas  – The No. 36 FIU women's tennis team saw its 10-match win streak come to an end on Sunday afternoon, as the Panthers came up short to No. 48 Rice, 4-2, in Houston to move to 14-4 overall and 2-1 in the C-USA.
 
After having won the last 12 straight doubles points, Rice got the best of the Panthers to corral the early advantage after earning wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles.
 
Ekaterina Khairutdinova and Kamila Umarova collected a 6-4 win at the top spot, though, Yasmine Kabbaj and Oyinlomo Quadre slipped at No. 2 singles 4-6, followed by No. 3 duo of Katerina Mandelikova and Salma Loudili falling in a tiebreak, 6-7.
 
Nonetheless, FIU came into singles with an edge, swiftly claiming the lead after ringing in the first two singles wins at No. 4 and No. 1 singles.
 
Kamila Umarova made quick work of Rice's Schwartzman, 6-1, 6-1, while Kabbaj dropped Zipoli, 6-3, 6-1, at the No. 1 spot to put the Panthers ahead, 2-1.
 
The Owls deadlocked the match at 2-2 shortly after, seeing Trevisian come away over Khairutdinova, 6-7, 4-6. Rice reclaimed the edge 3-2 after Salma Loudili fell to Orav at No. 6 singles, 7-6, 7-5, as freshmen Oyinlomo Quadre and Katerina Mandelikova found themselves in three-set clashes.
 
Quadre took the first set in her matchup at No. 3 singles, 6-2, prior to falling in a second-set tiebreak, while Mandelikova followed suit with a 6-3 first-set result prior to slipping in the second set, 4-6.
 
Both held leads in their respective third sets, as Mandelikova was up 4-3 prior to playing up to a 6-6 tiebreak against Rice's Budin at No. 5 singles. Budin stormed back from the deficit and would outlast Mandelikova, 7-6 (5), in an extremely competitive back-and-forth affair that allowed Rice to come away with the 4-2 victory.
 
UP NEXT
No. 36 FIU closes the regular season traveling to face FAU in Boca Raton, Fla., on Friday, Apr. 7. First serve is slated for a 4 p.m. start.  

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