Rice University
SMU
Rice Stumbles at SMU
4/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 16, 2006
DALLAS -- In their regular-season finale, the Rice men suffered a 4-3 loss at SMU in Dallas on Sunday.
After surrendering the doubles point, the Owls got on the scoreboard as junior Ben Harknett beat 33rd-ranked Peter Oredsson 6-4, 6-4 at number-two singles. Senior Jason Mok quickly made it 2-1 for Rice as he scored a 6-4, 6-2 win against Henrik Soderberg at the six position.
The Mustangs then notched wins at one and three singles, before senior Tony Haerle knotted the score at 3-3 with his 7-6, 6-4 win against David Kuczer at four. Freshman Christoph Müller rallied from a set back to force a third frame but couldn't hold on to the momentum and fell to Oivind Alver 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 at five.
The loss drops the Owls record to 16-6 on the year and halts an 11-match win streak. Next up for Rice is a trip to Tulsa for the Conference USA championship, which begins on April 20.
Results
No. 43 SMU 4, No. 31 Rice 3
Doubles
1. Kuczer/Skrypko (SMU) def. Rodrigo Gabriel/Haerle (RU), 8-4
2. Knupfer/Zivojinovic (RU) vs. Alver/Oredsson (SMU), DNF
3. Murgier/Soderberg (SMU) def. Harknett/Müller (RU), 8-4
Singles
1. Alex Skrypko (SMU) def. No. 35 Robert Searle (RU), 6-4, 6-2
2. Ben Harknett (RU) def. No. 33 Peter Oredsson (SMU), 6-4, 6-4
3. Federico Murgier (SMU) def. Ralph Knupfer (RU), 6-4, 6-4
4. Tony Haerle (RU) def. David Kuczer (SMU), 7-6, 6-4
*5. Oivind Alver (SMU) def. Christoph Müller (RU), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
6. Jason Mok (RU) def. Henrik Soderberg (SMU), 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: D1, D3, S2, S6, S1, S3, S5, S4*
Players Mentioned
