Men’s tennis falls in finale, hosts C-USA tournament
Encountering a bump in the road always reveals something: whether the car has some spiffy brand-new shocks, for instance. Or, in the figurative sense, it reveals whether or not a sports team has enough character to rebound from adversity. The metaphorical confrontation will be evident for the men’s tennis team this week as they try to shake off last week’s rough losses to then-No. 61 Southern Methodist University and then-No. 18 University of Michigan.
Rice will be tested this weekend as it hosts the Conference USA tournament at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium for the first time. The 30th-ranked Owls dominated the last conference tournament they hosted, the 2004 Western Athletic Conference tournament, for their first league title in more than thirty years. Rice, 13-10 on the season and seeded second behind No. 21 University of Tulsa, begins play at 4 p.m. today against seventh-seed University of Memphis. If the Owls are victorious in the opening round, they will then face the winner of the University of Central Florida-SMU matchup Saturday at 3 p.m. The title match will be held at noon Sunday.
Last year, Rice — holding the top seed — breezed through the early rounds and into the final, where they met third-seeded Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane, enjoying a palpable home court advantage, won a tough 4-1 match to take the title. However, the sour taste left by that loss is not what has the Owls licking their chops: Just two weeks ago, the Golden Hurricane edged the Owls by the slimmest of margins to win 4-3.
For assistant coach Efe Ustundag (Baker ‘99), his squad’s high ranking is deceptive but also a blessing in a very level playing field.
“[Today,] everybody is equal,” Ustundag said. “The rankings don’t matter, who you’ve beaten, who you’ve lost to, it doesn’t matter. … But we’re definitely ready for this. I feel like we have less pressure [to win]. We don’t have a big “X” on the back of our shirts
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