2008 Woodie Awards
Men's tennis regroups, trashes Aggies
Casey Michel
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Sports
Just when it seemed that the wheels had fallen off of the men's tennis team's season, the repairman showed up in the guise of Texas A&M University. On a tense senior night at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium last Wednesday, No. 24 Rice defeated the 21st-ranked Aggies 4-3 to patch their wounds from back-to-back losses against Conference USA foes.
While the losses to No. 9 University of Tulsa and No. 60 Southern Methodist University may have squashed Rice's hopes at hosting an NCAA Regional, the Owls, currently 13-7 on the year, will get a chance to redeem themselves in the upcoming C-USA Tournament. Rice will enter the tournament, scheduled for April 18-20 in Dallas, as the No. 2 seed for the second consecutive year.
However, Rice hopes its result this season is better than that of its last two campaigns - the Owls have fallen to the University of Tulsa in the championship match the past two years. This year, the Golden Hurricane, who beat the Owls 4-1 on April 2, look like the team to beat once again: Tulsa has won 13 of its last 15 matches behind stellar play from No. 24 Arnau Brugues.
If the Owls manage to escape the only top 10 team in C-USA, they will still have a full palette of other opponents to contend with. Southern Methodist University, ranked 46th and playing in front of its home court, will be coming off a season in which they not only slammed Rice 5-0 but also beat No. 36 University of California-Berkeley and barely lost 4-3 to then-No. 9 Notre Dame. And although the final ranked team, No. 67 University of Alabama-Birmingham, may not feature anyone in the top 125, the Blazers went a remarkable 4-0 in conference play during the regular season.
If there is anything positive to be culled from Rice's recent cold stretch, it is that they recently had the opportunity to scout their competition first-hand. Of course, the same could be said for the two teams they recently faced, but assistant coach Efe Ustundag (Baker '99) said it may be difficult for their opponents to earn
While the losses to No. 9 University of Tulsa and No. 60 Southern Methodist University may have squashed Rice's hopes at hosting an NCAA Regional, the Owls, currently 13-7 on the year, will get a chance to redeem themselves in the upcoming C-USA Tournament. Rice will enter the tournament, scheduled for April 18-20 in Dallas, as the No. 2 seed for the second consecutive year.
However, Rice hopes its result this season is better than that of its last two campaigns - the Owls have fallen to the University of Tulsa in the championship match the past two years. This year, the Golden Hurricane, who beat the Owls 4-1 on April 2, look like the team to beat once again: Tulsa has won 13 of its last 15 matches behind stellar play from No. 24 Arnau Brugues.
If the Owls manage to escape the only top 10 team in C-USA, they will still have a full palette of other opponents to contend with. Southern Methodist University, ranked 46th and playing in front of its home court, will be coming off a season in which they not only slammed Rice 5-0 but also beat No. 36 University of California-Berkeley and barely lost 4-3 to then-No. 9 Notre Dame. And although the final ranked team, No. 67 University of Alabama-Birmingham, may not feature anyone in the top 125, the Blazers went a remarkable 4-0 in conference play during the regular season.
If there is anything positive to be culled from Rice's recent cold stretch, it is that they recently had the opportunity to scout their competition first-hand. Of course, the same could be said for the two teams they recently faced, but assistant coach Efe Ustundag (Baker '99) said it may be difficult for their opponents to earn
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