Rice University Athletics
Harknett Leads Six Owls With ITA Regional Rankings
12/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Dec. 12, 2006
HOUSTON -- Led by senior Ben Harknett's No. 4 ranking, the Rice men's tennis team saw six Owls ranked among the top 30 in singles in the ITA South Central Region, the most of any school in the region, along with two doubles teams in the top 15.
Texas, which finished the 2006 season ranked third nationally, and Baylor, which finished fourth, each had five players ranked in singles.
Harknett posted a 4-3 mark in the fall, highlighted by an upset of preseason No. 4 Lars Poerschke of Baylor in September. Joining Harknett in the top 20 are junior Ralph Knupfer at No. 13, senior Jason Mok at No. 16, and sophomore Chistoph Müller at No. 18.
Knupfer also posted a 4-3 fall record and had the best singles showing by an Owl at the ITA regional championships in October, when he advanced to the quarterfinals. Mok and Müller both led Rice in the fall with 10 wins each. Mok had one of his his best tournament outings in October when he advanced to the quarterfinals of the Midland Collegiate Invitational after winning four matches in a single day. Müller earned C-USA player of the month honors for September after he posted a 7-2 singles mark during the month.
Two Rice newcomers also earned spot in the regional top 30, with Filip Paroci checking in at 23rd and Tobias Scheil at 25th. Paroci is a freshman from Novi Sad, Serbia & Montenegro, while Scheil hails from Bad Abbach, Germany and spending one year at Colorado.
In doubles, Harknett and Paroci were ranked eighth after going 3-1 in the fall. Mok and Müller are ranked 10th after forming a successful partnership to the tune of an 8-4 fall record and a trip to the regional quarterfinals.
The Owls return to action Jan. 19-21 when they host the 10th Annual Rice/Downtown Club at the Met Collegiate Indoor Invitational. Dual action begins for Rice on Jan. 21 as the Owls host Texas-San Antonio at the Met following the conclusion of the tournament.
