Rice Trio Earn Preseason Rankings
9/12/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Sept. 12, 2006
HOUSTON -- Rice's Ralph Knupfer, Ben Harknett and Filip Paroci all earned spots on the Fila/ITA preseason men's tennis singles rankings, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced.
Knupfer, a junior from Bad Friedrichshall, Germany, is ranked 52nd this fall after finishing the 2005-06 season ranked 79th nationally and 14th in the South-Central region. He posted a 29-10 singles mark, including a 14-7 record in dual matches.
A senior from Reading, England, Harknett begins his final year as an Owl ranked 109th. He cracked the top 125 for the first time in his career last April and was 9-7 at No. 2 singles. He finished his junior campaign ranked 22nd in the region.
Paroci is a freshman from Novi Sad, Serbia and Montenegro. He is one of the top juniors that Serbia has produced in recent years, having won the national championships at every age group from 12s to 18s. He also won the national men's open a year ago.
After opening the fall season at home last weekend, the Owls next head to Waco Sept. 22-24 for the Baylor Invitational.
