Men’s tennis loses in WAC final
The men’s tennis team had its second consecutive Western Athletic Conference championship on its racket in Honolulu Sunday, but the Owls fell short this year, losing 4-3 to top-seeded Boise State University. After winning his first set 6-1, junior Rodrigo Gabriel could not convert two match points at the deciding fifth position, losing a second-set tiebreak and then the third set 6-4 as the Broncos won their second WAC championship in three years.
‘We put ourselves in a situation to win the match,’ assistant coach Efe Ustundag (Baker ‘99) said. ‘It was a heartbreaker because we had it in our hands.’
The Owls, now ranked 35th nationally, must await the NCAA tournament bracket — announced May 4 — to see if they get a bid. Smarr said he is confident his team will make its third consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.
‘I’m pretty sure we are in the tournament with a 35th ranking,’ Smarr said. ‘We are a borderline two seed. If we had beaten Boise, we would have moved up to 27th or so.’
Potential nearby regional hosts include No. 1 Baylor University, No. 10 Texas Tech University, No. 15 Texas A&M University and No. 16 Oklahoma State University.
‘The main [question] is where we are sent [for NCAA regionals],’ Smarr said. ‘Hopefully, we are sent where the top seed is 15th or 14th in the country. We could get to the round of 16 with the right placement.’
Last year, Rice advanced to the Sweet 16 before losing to eventual national champion Baylor 4-1. After coasting to a 5-0 victory over the University of Nevada in Friday’s quarterfinal, the second-seeded Owls defeated third-seeded Southern Methodist University Saturday 4-2. The Mustangs had beaten Rice April 17 by a 5-1 margin at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium. Rice won the rematch on the strength of songles wins from Gabriel, sophomore Ben Harknett, freshman Ralph Knupfer and junior captain Robert Searle, who would later be named 2005 WAC Player of the Year.
‘This week was the first time this season that the boys have come together at the right time,’ Searle said.
The win propelled Rice into the final against Boise State, which had beaten fourth-seeded Tulsa 4-2 to advance to the final. The tightly-contested doubles point set the tone for the five-hour match. In a battle of two first team all-WAC doubles teams at the top spot, the 10th-ranked tandem of Luke Shields and Thomas Schoeck overcame a 6-3 deficit to defeat 51st-ranked Searle and Harknett 9-7. The Broncos won the doubles point when junior Tony Haerle and freshman Filip Zivojinovic, who were named second team all-WAC in doubles, fell to Ikaika Jobe and Matias Silva 8-5.
‘As far as doubles is concerned, I think we are lacking a little bit of confidence,’ Ustundag said. ‘We’ve almost [gotten] into a situation where we have forgot how to win doubles.’
With a 1-0 deficit going into singles play, Zivojinovic and Knupfer won in straight sets at the No. 4 and No. 6 spots, respectively. But Haerle lost to Thomas Schoeck at the second spot, evening the match at 2-2. The Owls took the lead in the championship with a lengthy three-set victory by Harknett, a second team all-WAC singles selection. At the top spot, 39th-ranked Searle rebounded from a 5-1 first-set deficit before falling in a tie break. After Searle won the second set, 45th-ranked WAC Freshman of the Year Luke Shields took the third set 6-2 win to tie the championship at 3-3. In the deciding match, Gabriel fell in three sets to Roberson.
‘We didn’t get much production from (Searle and Haerle),’ Ustundag said. ‘The effort that we got from the guys lower in the lineup should give us confidence for regionals. I’m pretty excited about it, because for the first time I’m feeling some support for the top guys from the rest [of the team].’
Searle said he was pleased with the team’s performance last weekend.
‘I need to play better personally and lead,’ Searle said. ‘I’m feeling a lot more confident with the team since the start of the WAC [tournament].’
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