LAKE CHARLES – The McNeese tennis team will travel to Houston on Tuesday where they will face 43rd-ranked Rice at 5 p.m. at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.

This will be the first match for the Cowgirls against a nationally ranked team since January of 2016 when they faced No. 11 Baylor.

The Cowgirls (12-2, 7-1 SLC) will have a lot of momentum going into the match as they have won six consecutive matches in a row.

Sarah Jurakova will lead the charge for the Cowgirls coming off a perfect weekend where she won all four of her matches and currently sits at 13-1 on the season in singles play.

The Owls (10-6) entered the Oracle/ITA Division I rankings last week for the first time this season.

Leading the Owls is nationally ranked singles player Wendy Zhang (#104). Zhang and her doubles partner Lindsey Hodge are also ranked in the top 30 in the country coming in at #26.

"We are looking forward to measuring our strengths against Rice," said head coach Helena Besovic. "Playing ranked teams is going to make our program better. Our ultimate goal is to be in the rankings as well."

Following the match with Rice the Cowgirls will have three consecutive home Southland Conference matches to close out the season. The Cowgirls will return home to face Lamar on April 7 and Sam Houston State on April 8.

Live streaming and live stats will be available with links located on mcneesesports.com.