Rice University
Texas Tech
Owls Win 48th Annual Hyatt Regency Downtown/Rice Invitational
3/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 26, 2006
HOUSTON -- The Owls won four of six in singles and took the doubles point to win the 48th Annual Hyatt Regency Downtown/Rice Invitational with their 5-2 victory against 37th-ranked Texas Tech Sunday afternoon at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.
Rice, ranked 47th, struck first, securing the doubles point with wins at two and three. Ralph Knupfer and Filip Zivojinovic scored an 8-4 victory, then Ben Harknett and Christoph Müller clinched with their 8-6 decision.
The Red Raiders answered back with a win at two singles to knot the score at 1-1. Knupfer then put the Owls up for good as he swept Christian Rojmar 6-3, 6-3 at the three position. In quick succession, Müller beat Mario Janjic 6-1, 6--4 at six, and Tony Haerle knocked off Sinisa Markovic 7-5, 6-3 to secure the team victory.
At number-one singles, Robert Searle fended off Adrian Prpic for a 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 win and the final Rice point of the day.
In the first match of the day, injuries took their toll on South Florida as the short-handed Bulls lost the doubles point then defaulted singles to Purdue.
For the Owls, the victory was their seventh straight as they improve to 12-5 on the year. The win also marked the seventh time in the last 10 years, and third in the last four, for the Owls to win the Rice Invitational. Next up for Rice is a trek to Fort Worth to face longtime rival TCU on April 1.
Results
No. 47 Rice 5, No. 37 Texas Tech 2
Doubles
1. Prpic/Rojmar (TTU) def. No. 50 Searle/Haerle (RU), 9-8
2. Knupfer/Zivojinovic (RU) def. Martinez/Breler (TTU), 8-4
3. Harknett/Müller (RU) def. DiBlasi/Markovic (TTU), 8-6
Singles
1. No. 35 Robert Searle (RU) def. No. 112 Adrian Prpic (TTU), 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3
2. Dimitrio Martinez (TTU) def. Ben Harknett (RU), 6-2, 6-4
3. Ralph Knupfer (RU) def. Christian Rojmar (TTU), 6-3, 6-3
* 4. Tony Haerle (RU) def. Sinisa Markovic (TTU), 7-5, 6-3
5. Michael Breler (TTU) def. Rodrigo Gabriel (RU), 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (6)
6. Christoph Müller (RU) def. Mario Janjic (TTU), 6-1, 6-4
No. 73 Purdue 7, South Florida 0
Doubles
1. Jaeger/Brozyna (USF) def. Hodgman/Mabatah (PUR), 8-4
2. Foster/Zaske (PUR) def. Barton/Gattiker (USF), 9-8
3. Leibner/Warner (PUR), DNP
Singles
Did Not Play
Players Mentioned
