Men's tennis catches breath before facing Tulsa
When three straight wins over ranked opponents can be described as the calm before the storm, it is easy to see how tough the men's tennis schedule really is. Having already faced a dozen opponents ranked in the top 75 over the last few months, the men's tennis team took on three more at last weekend's Rice Invite, sweeping aside No. 46 University of Iowa, No. 68 Middle Tennessee State and No. 62 University of San Diego to capture the tournament crown.But now is no time for the 22nd-ranked Owls to exhale - their most important test of the season comes to Jake Hess Tennis Stadium this Wednesday. The University of Tulsa, currently ranked 11th in the nation, has given Rice the greatest trouble of any opponent in recent memory: The Golden Hurricane has halted the Owls' last two Conference USA championship runs in the final match to capture two consecutive conference titles.