Cal, Florida State handle men's tennis in home matches
Year in and year out, the men's tennis team makes a point of compiling one of the toughest schedules in the nation. This year held the same gauntlet for Rice, with 11 of the first 14 contests coming against ranked opponents. It is that strength of schedule that has saved the season for the Owls thus far, because if they compiled the same 6-8 record against lesser foes, there would be little hope that Rice - a perennially ranked team currently sitting at 48th - would still have a season to play for.
The toughest stretch of the season finally came to a close last weekend, with a pair of losses to then- No. 18 Florida State University and then-No. 11 University of California- Berkeley, all but guaranteeing that the Owls would end the regular season without any wins against top-20 foes. This run against some of the country's best has beleaguered Rice, giving the team seven losses in the last eight matches, with the lone win from unranked Loyola Marymount University.
Still, that doesn't mean that the Owls haven't played without verve. Take the contest against the Seminoles (9-2). Assistant Coach Efe Ustundag (Baker '99) noted that Florida State carried a relatively weak bottom of the ladder and, as such, would be the focus of Rice's attack.
"I felt like the key to beating FSU was to win the doubles point and really get after Nos. 4, 5 and 6," the coach said. "We felt like they are as good as anyone in the country at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 . They lost because of the bottom, and we felt lately that's where we're getting some success."
The plan started well enough on the doubles slate, with the Owls grabbing wins at the Nos. 2 and 3 doubles positions. Senior Dennis Polyakov and sophomore Oscar Podlewski clinched the doubles point with an 8-6 victory over Andres Bucaro and Anderson Reed to give Rice an early 1-0 lead.
Just as predicted, the top of the Seminoles' lineup had its way with the Owls, taking all three singles spots. Sophomore Isamu Tachibana, whose early season struggles appear to be no more, gave Rice its second point at No. 5 with a 6-4, 6-4 bashing of Bucaro, but that would be the only singles victory for the Owls on the day. Despite playing back-and-forth tennis, sophomores Sam Garforth-Bles and Christian Saravia could not keep up with their opponents, and Florida State finished off the Owls 5-2.
Though disappointed, Ustundag pointed out that the match was actually far closer than the score indicated.
"Just another one that got away," Ustundag said. "But when you look at overall score, it doesn't look as close as it actually was."
However, the opposite could be claimed when examining the contest against the Golden Bears (9-4). Once more, the Owls took the doubles point for the early lead. But yet again, the top of the singles lineup faltered, with Nos. 1-4 dropping their matches in straight sets. Saravia and Tachibana found success at the bottom of the ladder, but by the time they won, Rice's 4-3 loss was assured.
"This one wasn't close," Ustundag said. "The disappointing part of the match was that there were a lot of 6-1s and 6-2s in the second set, which sort of in a way shows a bit of our confidence level at the moment, in the sense that we're not able to turn matches around because we've been playing these tough teams, some close, some not, but not really being able to pull any of them out."
Senior Bruno Rosa, currently ranked 34th in the nation, agreed with Ustundag's analysis, noting that his confidence has taken a hit with the recent spate of defeats.
"We've had the toughest semester in my three years," Rosa said. "The only way I can get my confidence back is, firstly, changing my attitude and, secondly, going to the court and practicing and giving 100 percent."
Still, despite the record, despite the disheartenment, Rice still shows signs of life. Doubles has been playing remarkably well, and the bottom of the lineup has been generally holding up.
And if nothing more, the schedule finally eases up on the team. Rice will host the 52nd-annual Rice Invitational, beginning today at noon against Tulane University. The Owls will continue tomorrow against No. 36 North Carolina State University and conclude Sunday against Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, with both matches beginning at noon.
None of the teams are in the top 30, and with Rice playing all at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium, the team is primed to right the season. But don't be fooled into thinking that expectations have been lessened: According to Ustundag, anything less than a sweep will be disappointing.
"I would be very satisfied with a sweep, but if we lose any of the matches . I don't think anybody would be happy with that at all," he said. "We don't have much credit left. We have to win, and we have to win now.
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