Rice University
Miami
Rice Falls To Miami 6-1
2/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 12, 2006
HOUSTON -- The 40th-ranked Rice men suffered a 6-1 loss to 30th-ranked Miami on Sunday afternoon in the Owls first match of the year at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.
The Hurricanes took an early advantage in doubles with a quick 8-0 win at number three. The action was much closer at the one and two positions though. Miami took the point with a 9-7 win at two, but the Owls avoided the doubles shutout when Robert Searle and Tony Haerle scored a 9-7 win against Luigi D'Agord and Daniel Vallverdu at the top spot.
Miami carried the momentum into singles scoring straight-set wins at the two, five and six positions to clinch the team win.
Rice's Ralph Knupfer got his team on the scoreboard as he was leading 6-4, 3-1 when his opponent, Vallverdu, retired with an injury. Searle and Haerle both went to third-set tiebreakers before falling.
The loss, the Owls' second straight to a top 30 team, drops their record to 4-3 on the year. Rice plays the first of three road matches Saturday, facing off against 33rd-ranked Louisiana-Lafayette.
Results
No. 30 Miami 6, No. 40 Rice 1
Doubles
1) No. 37 Haerle/Searle (RU) def. D'Agord/Vallverdu (UM), 9-7
2) Krebs/Subramanian (UM) def. Knupfer/Zivojinovic (RU), 9-7
3) Cohen/Hechtman (UM) def. Harknett/ Christoph Müller (RU), 8-0
Singles
1) No. 25 Luigi D'Agord (UM) def. No. 36 Robert Searle (RU), 6-4, 6-7, 1-0 (10-4)
2) No. 88 Josh Cohen (UM) def. Ben Harknett (RU), 6-2, 6-2
3) Ralph Knupfer (RU) def. Daniel Vallverdu (UM), 6-4, 3-1, ret. (inj.)
4) Tim Krebs (UM) def. Tony Haerle (RU), 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (11-9)
5) Eric Hechtman (UM) def. Filip Zivojinovic (RU), 6-3, 6-4
6) John Hoyes (UM) def. Rodrigo Gabriel (RU), 6-0, 7-6
Players Mentioned
