Rice University
LSU
No. 30 Owls Upset Bid Denied By No. 20 Tigers
2/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 20, 2007
BATON ROUGE, La. -- While senior Ben Harknett did score an individual upset, the No. 30 Rice men's attempt to knock off No. 20 Louisiana State was denied in a close 4-3 decision on Tuesday afternoon in Baton Rouge, La.
After the Owls' lost the doubles point and were down 3-0, Harknett, ranked 50th nationally, scored the squad's first point of the day with his triumphant 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 defeat of No. 9 Ken Skupski. The victory was Harknett's second-straight against a top-15 opponent and improved his dual record to 5-0.
Once Harknett got Rice on the scoreboard, his teammates turned in two more wins to knot the team scoring at 3-3. Fellow senior Jason Mok posted a 6-4, 6-4 decision against James Cluskey at No. 6 singles, then sophomore Christoph Müller rallied for a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory against Jan Zelezny at No. 5 singles. The Tiger's held on for the win though as Colt Gaston defeated Filip Paroci 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4 at No. 2.
Harknett was also victorious in doubles on Tuesday as he and partner Filip Zivojinovic rallied from a 6-3 deficit for an 8-7 (5) win against Zelezny and Kevin Dessauer after the doubles point had been decided.
The Owls (6-3) continue their arduous road trip, which has them playing nine-straight matches on the road including seven against ranked foes, on Sunday when they head to Austin to face No. 18 Texas.
Results
No. 20 LSU 4, No. 30 Rice 3
Doubles
1. No. 3 Cluskey/Skupski (LSU) def. Knupfer/Scheil (RU), 8-4
2. Bryan/Gaston (LSU) def. Mok/Müller (RU), 8-3
3. Harknett/Filip Zivojinovic (RU) def. Dessauer/Zelezny (LSU), 8-7 (5)
Singles
1. No. 50 Ben Harknett (RU) def. No. 9 Ken Skupski (LSU), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
2. Colt Gaston (LSU) def. Filip Paroci (RU), 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4
3. No. 68 Danny Bryan (LSU) def. Ralph Knupfer (RU), 6-3, 7-5
4. Kevin Dessauer (LSU) def. Tobias Scheil (RU), 6-4, 6-1
5. Christoph Müller (RU) def. Jan Zelezny (LSU), 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1
6. Jason Mok (RU) def. James Cluskey (LSU), 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: D1, D2, D3, S4, S3, S1, S6, S5, S2
Players Mentioned
