Rice University
UAB
Owls Beat Blazers, Advance to C-USA Champion Match
4/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 22, 2006
TULSA, Okla. -- With a tough 4-1 victory against UAB in Saturday's semifinal, Rice advances to the 2006 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship title match on Sunday in Tulsa, Okla.
The Owls' three seniors led the way to the doubles point to start the day. Rodrigo Gabriel paired with junior Jason Mok for a 8-4 decision against Kristijan Mitrovski and Thomas Weiss at three. The 20th-ranked senior tandem of Tony Haerle and Robert Searle then scored an 8-4 win against Anton Mavrin and Johannes Spangenberg at the top spot for the point.
Mok dealt another blow for Rice with his 6-4, 6-2 victory at six singles. The Blazers struck back with a win at four, before junior Ben Harknett put the Owls up 3-1 with his 6-1, 7-6 defeat of Sebastian Falk at two.
Then, at number-one singles, Searle rebounded from a first set loss to take control of the second frame, then went on to beat Mavrin 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 to clinch the team victory and the Owls' spot in their first C-USA title match.
"UAB is a little bit better team than people think," said head coach Ron Smarr. "You look back a couple weeks, they took the 36th-ranked team in the country 4-3 and they swept the doubles at Alabama. We knew they were capable. We didn't play as well as I thought we'd play. When you're missing one of the best players in the country at No. 3 singles, it puts a lot more pressure on you too."
The win improves 28th-ranked Rice's record to 18-6 on the year. Sunday's title match, against either Tulsa or SMU, is set for a 12 noon start and marks the Owls' third consecutive trip to a league championship match. Rice advanced to the Western Athletic Conference title match in 2005 after winning the WAC championship in 2004.
Results
No. 28 Rice 4, UAB 1
Doubles
1. #20 Haerle/Searle (RU) def. Mavrin/Spangenberg (UAB), 8-4
2. Falk/Maier (UAB) vs. Harknett/Müller (RU), DNF
3. Rodrigo Gabriel/Mok (RU) def. Mitrovski/Thomas Weiss (UAB), 8-4
Singles
*1. #29 Robert Searle (RU) def. Anton Mavrin (UAB), 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
2. #122 Ben Harknett (RU) def. Sebastian Falk (UAB), 6-1, 7-6
3. Tony Haerle (RU) vs. Kristijan Mitrovski (UAB), DNF
4. Andre Maier (UAB) def. Filip Zivojinovic (RU), 6-3, 6-1
5. Christoph Müller (RU) vs. Johannes Spangenberg (UAB), DNF
6. Jason Mok (RU) def. Kruno Despotovski (UAB), 6-4, 6-2
Players Mentioned
