Rice University
Middle Tennessee State
Owls Tripped By Blue Raiders
2/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 25, 2006
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- In their first action in almost two weeks, the 43rd-ranked Rice men lost 5-2 at 42nd-ranked Middle Tennessee State on Saturday in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
After a tough battle, the Blue Raiders took the doubles point after Brandon Allan and Kai Schledorn edged Filip Zivojinovic and Ralph Knupfer 9-8 (4) in the clinching match. The Owls' Ben Harknett and Christoph Müller were winners at number three with an 8-5 decision against Greg Pollack and Rishan Kuruppu at number three. Rice's Robert Searle and Tony Haerle were solid against the second-ranked duo of Andreas Siljestrom and Marco Born, but came up just short in an 8-6 loss.
MTSU won at numbers one and four singles to go up 3-0 against the Owls, who played without the 52nd-ranked Searle in the singles lineup. Haerle got Rice on the scoreboard, beating Allan 6-4, 6-1 at number three, before the Blue Raiders locked up the team win with a victory at the two position.
Rice's Rodrigo Gabriel scored another win with his 7-5, 6-4 decision against Morgan Richard at the six position. In the final match of the day, Müller came up short in a second-set tiebreaker marathon, falling 6-3, 7-6 (15-13) to Kuruppu at number five.
The loss drops the Owls record to 4-4 on the year. Rice concludes its current road trip Sunday at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn.
Results
No. 42 Middle Tennessee State 5, No. 43 Rice 2
Doubles
1. No. 2 Born/Siljestrom (MT) def. Robert Searle/Haerle (RU), 8-6
2. Allan/Schledorn (MT) def. Zivojinovic/Knupfer (RU), 9-8 (4)
3. Müller/Harknett (RU) def. Pollack/Kuruppu (MT), 8-5
Singles
1. No. 50 Andreas Siljestrom (MT) def. Ben Harknett (RU), 6-3, 6-2
2. Marco Born (MT) def. Ralph Knupfer (RU), 7-6 (2), 6-4
3. Tony Haerle (RU) def. Brandon Allan (MT), 6-4, 6-1
4. Kai Schledorn (MT) def. Filip Zivojinovic (RU), 6-2, 6-2
5. Rishan Kuruppu (MT) def. Christoph Müller (RU). 6-3, 7-6 (13)
6. Rodrigo Gabriel (RU) def. Morgan Richard (MT), 7-5, 6-4
Players Mentioned
