Rice University
ITA South-Central Regional Championships
Owls Strong On Day One at ITA Regionals
10/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Oct. 21, 2006
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Rice had five individuals advance to the round of 32 in singles and two doubles pairs advance to the round of 16 as the Owls had a solid start at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's South-Central Regional Championships on Saturday in Fort Worth.
Junior Ralph Knupfer, seeded fourth overall at the tournament, received a first-round bye and easily moved into the round of 32 with a 6-1, 6-2 win against Javier Herrera of UT-Arlington. Also receiving first-round byes for Rice were senior Ben Harknett, seeded ninth, sophomore Christoph Müller, freshman Filip Paroci and junior Jon Greenberg. After dropping his first set, Harknett, posted an impressive comeback against Southeastern Louisiana's Vladimir Paunic for a 5-7, 6-0, 6-0 win in the round of 64. Müller and Paroci also recorded wins to advance.
Newcomer Tobias Scheil won his round of 128 singles match against Ilie Babinciuc of SELU 6-3, 6-2, then followed with another straight-set victory against SMU's David Kuczer, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the round of 32.
In doubles action, Jason Mok and Müller teamed for a pair of wins in the main draw. The Owl duo first beat Lamar's Andres Medina and Emanuel Olivier 8-3 in the round of 64. The Rice pair then downed TCU's Chris Biro and Andrew Ulrich 8-5 for a spot in the round of 16.
Also advancing to the round of 16 for the Owls is the eighth-seeded pair of Harknett and Paroci. After a first-round bye, the tandem defeated SELU's Babinciuc and Matthieu Leboucher 8-2.
Tournament action continues in Fort Worth through Tuesday. The singles finalists and the doubles champions will receive automatic bids to the ITA National Indoor Championships, Nov. 2-4 in Columbus, Ohio.
Singles Results
Main Draw - Rd. of 128
Tobias Scheil (Rice) def. Ilie Babinciuc (SELU), 6-3, 6-2
Hoony Shin (Rice) def. Daniel Gonzalez (SMU), 6-4, 6-0
Dennis Polyakov (Rice) def. Matthieu Leboucher (SELU), 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
Miguel Reyes Varela (UT) def. Jason Mok (Rice), 6-2, 6-1
Piotr Banas (ULL) def. Filip Zivojinovic (Rice), 6-1, 6-2
Main Draw - Rd. of 64
Christoph Müller (Rice) def. Javier Herrera (UTA), 6-1, 6-2
Ralph Knupfer (Rice) def. Mikael Pavlov (TAMUCC), 6-3, 6-4
Tobias Scheil (Rice) def. David Kuczer (SMU), 6-2, 6-2
Ben Harknett (Rice) def. Vladimir Paunic (SELU), 5-7, 6-0, 6-0
Filip Paroci (Rice) def. Jose Zunino (TAMUCC), 6-3, 6-7, 6-1
Krieger Brink (TCU) def. Jon Greenberg (Rice), 6-2, 6-3
Mike Beatty (TAMU) def. Hoony Shin (Rice), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Sinisa Markovic (TTU) def. Dennis Polyakov (Rice), 6-3, 6-2
Doubles Results
Main Draw - Rd. of 64
Polyakov/Zivojinovic (Rice) def. Dawson/Rodgman (Centenary), 8-0
Mok/Müller (Rice) def. Medina/Olivier (Lamar), 8-3
Delgado/Tabak (ULL) def. Greenberg/Shin (Rice), WO (inj.)
Main Draw - Rd. of 32
Mok/Müller (Rice) def. Biro/Ulrich (TCU), 8-5
Harknett/Paroci (Rice) def. Babinciuc/Leboucher (SELU), 8-2
Kumantsov/Pavlov (TAMUCC) def. Polyakov/Zivojinovic (Rice), 8-3
Donato/Nallon (TAMU) def. Knupfer/Scheil (Rice), 8-4
Players Mentioned
