GARLAND, Texas - East Carolina's record-setting season came to an end as the Lady Pirates dropped a 4-1 decision to Houston in the quarterfinal round of the Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship Tournament Friday afternoon at the Garland Tennis Center.

The No. 3 seed Cougars (20-4) will advance to the semifinals where they will meet cross-town rival Rice Saturday. Sixth-seeded ECU closed out its winningest season in program history with a 19-9 record.

After splitting the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles matchups, the tandem of Kami Miller and Yolandi Terblanche gave Houston a 1-0 lead with a tough 8-6 win over ECU's Mireia Gol and Luiza Borges. Lady Pirate seniors Gillie Bailey and Kirstin Buchanan evened pairs play with an 8-5 victory over Brianna Bateup and Loli Gomez after Anca Dumitru and Presley Thomas suffered an 8-3 setback to Sonja Nikolic and Sarah Reimer.

In singles action, the Cougars notched wins at the No. 2, 4 and 6 slots to clinch the team triumph. Terblanche carried the momentum to singles play as the South Africa native cruised past ECU's Thomas (6-0, 6-2) at No. 6 while fellow senior Miller logged a 6-5, 6-1 victory over Buchanan in a No. 4 meeting. Gomez closed out the Houston win total by posting a 6-2, 6-1 win over Bailey at the No. 2 slot

East Carolina picked up its only win at the No. 3 position when Gol rolled past Nikolic 6-0, 6-4 to complete her 2006 singles record at 29-7.

Since tournament format policy dictates the stoppage of play once a team clinches its fourth point, the No. 1 and No. 5 matches featuring Dumitru and Borges were halted.

No. 3 HOUSTON 4, No. 6 EAST CAROLINA 1
Singles Play
No. 1 - Anca Dumitru (ECU) vs. Brianna Bateup (UH); DNF
No. 2 - Loli Gomez (UH) def. Gillie Bailey (ECU); 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 - Mireia Gol (ECU) def. Sonja Nikolic (UH); 6-0, 6-4
No. 4 - Kami Miller (UH) def. Kirstin Buchanan (ECU); 6-5, 6-1
No. 5 - Luiza Borges (ECU) vs. Vicky Simpson (UH); DNF
No. 6 - Yolandi Terblanche (UH) def. Presley Thomas (ECU); 6-0, 6-2
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Bailey/Buchanan (ECU) def. Bateup/Gomez (UH); 8-5
No. 2 - Miller/Terblanche (UH) def. Borges/Gol (ECU); 8-6
No. 3 - Nikolic/Sarah Reimer (UH) def. Dumitru/Thomas (ECU); 8-3
Team Records: East Carolina (19-9), Houston (20-4)