Men’s tennis finishes road trip with consecutive losses
Like many other sports, tennis is a game of inches. Nowhere was this more painfully evident than in the men’s tennis team’s recent road trip to Florida. Following a stinging defeat at the hands of then-31st-ranked Florida State University 5-2, Rice found out the hard way that inches — and a few points — can determine a match, falling 4-3 to then-67th-ranked University of Miami.
The team returns home this weekend after a punishing month-long road trip that featured seven ranked opponents. Now 24th in the nation, Rice hosts three more ranked foes this weekend at the 46th Annual Rice Invitational in Jake Hess Tennis Stadium. The Owls will face No. 33 College of William and Mary at noon Saturday and No. 39 Middle Tennessee State University at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. But Rice’s most difficult match will be the first of the weekend, when they take on the underrated No. 52 University of Oklahoma at 1:30 p.m. today.
“One of our toughest matches this weekend will be against Oklahoma,” head coach Ron Smarr said. “They came [very close to] beating Oklahoma State University, a top-15 team, 9-7. … They’re definitely the best of the bunch.”
The Owls squared off with Florida State last Friday in Tallahassee, Fla., and came out strong to start the dual-match. Even though Rice lost the first doubles match, senior Ben Harknett and freshman Filip Paroci were able to hold off the Seminoles’ Jean-Yves Aubone and Bradley Mixson 8-5 to knot up the doubles score 1-1. Sophomore Tobias Scheil and junior Ralph Knupfer sealed the doubles point with a win at No. 1.
However, Florida State took control in singles, beating all three ranked Owls: No. 25 Harknett, No. 116 Knupfer and No. 97 senior Jason Mok. Harknett nearly pulled off the comeback but fell in three sets, while Knupfer, facing No. 58 Aubone, could not hold on to the early lead, dropping the match 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Sophomore Christoph Mueller got Rice back into the match with a straight-set win at No. 4, but it was to no avail, as the Owls dropped the final two singles points to lose the match.
Assistant coach Efe Ustundag (Baker ‘99) said the Owls did not give up easily, even though the Seminoles were a stronger team.
“Florida State outplayed us,” Ustundag said. “They were just stronger than us in certain spots. I really feel like the match was up for grabs, and they grabbed it. But I didn’t feel like it was one of those that we just handed to them.”
Two days later, the Owls faced the Hurricanes in Miami, Fla., in a match that would be decided by but a few points. After Rice dropped the doubles match at No. 1, Harknett and Paroci stormed back at No. 3, powering their way to a 9-7 win. But in the deciding match, the Hurricanes’ Daniel Vallverdu and Vivek Subramanian edged by Mok and Mueller, taking the match and the point 9-7.
The Owls soon found themselves in a 2-0 hole after the first singles contest. But once again, Mueller would not let an early deficit affect how he played and won his match at No. 4 to pull the Owls within one. Mok followed Mueller’s lead, tying the score 2-2. Harknett nearly put the Owls in the lead at No. 1, coming perilously close to knocking off No. 44 Luigi D’Agord. However, D’Agord, who reached No. 4 in the nation at one point last year, won the final two sets to beat Harknett. Junior Filip Zivojinovic kept the Owls in the match with his victory at the bottom of the ladder, putting Knupfer in the deciding match against No. 65 Vallverdu. Fighting his way to a win in the first set, the two-time C-USA Player of the Week looked ready to notch his fourth victory over a ranked opponent. But Vallverdu squeaked by Knupfer in the second, which provided the momentum to win the third set as well, taking the match 4-6, 7-6, 6-3.
Despite the disheartening loss, Smarr said that his team competed just as hard as the Hurricanes.
“It’s just a lot of where the ball bounces,” Smarr said. “The main thing to keep in mind is that we haven’t quit … we were in every match. We’re still in the hunt.”
Other sports stories
- Baseball takes three from Cal Poly
- Sammy, Owl logos need quick and drastic makeover
- Women's tennis ends four-match losing streak
News
- Campus gears up for 51st Beer-Bike
- EMS celebrates tenth year of service with gala
- ETS to roll out new GRE in September
- Monthly student literary magazine debuts
- Rondelet cancelled
Arts & Entertainment
- A generation defined by pizza pie and Cowabunga
- Chatting with The Namesake's Kal Penn:
- New Hollywood cannot live up to old Bollywood in The Namesake
- Pitman Award funds students' exploration of art, identity
- Premonition wastes viewers' time, money
- Sets impress, acting disappoints in Will Rice's Orange Lemon
- Wii's SSX Blur brings snowy slopes to Houston game rooms