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March 4, 2005 > Sports > Men’s tennis ends Fresno State’s home win streak

Men’s tennis ends Fresno State’s home win streak

By Matt McCabe | Thresher Editorial Staff

The men’s tennis team ended one of the longest home winning streaks in college tennis Saturday, defeating Fresno State University 4-3 in a dual match in Fresno, Calif. The 34th-ranked Owls rebounded from a 6-1 loss to 30th-ranked Florida State to end 58th-ranked Fresno State’s 20-match home winning streak. Rice went on to notch another win, beating Santa Clara University 6-1 Sunday.

“[Fresno State] was a good win out there for us,” head coach Ron Smarr said. “After Florida State, it’s good that we came back and beat two decent teams, particularly Fresno at their place.”

After losing the doubles point at Florida State, the Owls returned to form against Fresno State, sweeping doubles handily. Rice’s top tandem of junior Robert Searle and sophomore Ben Harknett took down Jakub Cech and Sergiu Modoc of Fresno 8-2, pushing their dual match record in doubles to 6-1. Junior Tony Haerle teamed with freshman Filip Zivojinovic to defeat Charles Irie and Nicolas Mascheroni 8-4 at the second position, and freshman Ralph Knupfer made his doubles debut by teaming up with senior Take Morita to beat Andy Sinn and Sam Gibbs 8-4 at the third spot.

“Ralph has good hands, [and] he moves quickly,” Smarr said. “Take and he are going to have to play some more doubles — they need to get a few matches under their belts.”

Searle, ranked 45th nationally, led the Owls in singles, recording a three-set victory over Jakub Cech of Fresno State 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 at the top spot. Despite upsetting top-seeded Brian Wilson of Illinois in the NCAA tournament last year, Searle began the spring season unranked, having sat out the fall season due to arthroscopic knee surgery. He broke into the national top 50 last week.

“Rob is back close to the level of last year,” Smarr said. “He’s just got to keep playing — he’s going to have plenty of opportunities.”

Haerle, Harknett and Knupfer lost three-set matches at the second, third and fourth positions, respectively, but Zivojinovic and sophomore Jason Mok both prevailed in straight sets in the fifth and sixth positions to give the Owls the dual-match win. Mok and Zivojinovic have rotated through the fifth and sixth spots with freshman Hoony Shin and junior Rodrigo Gabriel throughout the season, and Smarr said he expects to continue to utilize all four players.

“It just depends on who we’re playing, what surface, and how the people are playing at five and six,” Smarr said.

Playing with a shuffled line up due to an NCAA rule capping competitive matches for every player at 25, the Owls defeated Santa Clara 6-1, winning all but one singles match in straight sets and sweeping the three doubles matches.

“We were hoping for more of a test [in Santa Clara], but you’ve got to beat what’s in front of you,” Searle said. “Fresno State was better than we expected.”

The Owls have tests ahead, though, facing No. 23 TCU

April 1 at home and No. 20 UT April 15 on the road.

“We’ve got a lot of tough matches coming up,” Smarr said. “You’re no better than your last match. We’ve got to show up and play every match.”

But before those matches, the Owls will compete at the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship March 4-6 in La Jolla, Calif. Searle will play with Harknett; Haerle will team with Zivojinovic.

“It’s almost like a nice break for the fellows — it’s been really hectic so far,” Searle said. “We’ve traveled a lot recently. This is the most I’ve traveled since I’ve been here.”

The Owls’ break from dual match play will be short-lived, however, as they will face No. 42 Michigan Sunday while they are in California.

“Michigan is kind of like Florida State — a sleeper,” Smarr said. “I would be really surprised if Michigan doesn’t end up in the top 20 or 25 before the year is up.”

Rice will travel to the Blue/Gray National Classic March 10-13 in Montgomery, Ala.

“We can really boost our season there,” Searle said. “It’s a really good opportunity for the boys to show what we’ve got.”

“We’re not quite the talent level [of last year’s team], but we are better than people probably think,” Smarr said. “On a given day, I think that we’re capable of beating almost anybody. Our first three or four guys can play with anybody in the country.”

End of article

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