Rice University
Minnesota
Owls Sweep Singles, Down Minnesota 6-1
2/3/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Feb. 3, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- After dropping a close doubles point, No. 29 Rice stormed back to win all six singles matches and beat No. 32 Minnesota 6-1 on the Gophers' home court on Saturday in Minneapolis., Minn., as the Owls improve to 5-0 on the year.
Rice's tandem of Jason Mok and Christoph Müller were dominant at No. 2 doubles, beating Sion Wilkins and D.J. Geatz 8-2. The matches at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles both came down to the wire as the Gopher tandems edged the Owl pairs 9-8 in each.
The Owls came back strong in singles as Ben Harknett, Ralph Knupfer, and Müller all posted straight-set wins to put Rice up 3-1. Harknett defeated Andres Osorio 6-4, 6-4 at the top spot, while Knupfer scored a 6-2, 6-3 decision against Geatz at No. 2. Playing at No. 5, Müller topped Nick Edlefsen 7-6, 6-3.
Mok helped secure the team triumph as he defeated Dino Bilankov 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 at No. 6. In a pair of marathon matches, Rice's Tobias Scheil defeated Mikey Kantar 6-1, 4-6, 7-6, and Filip Paroci upset 58th-ranked Raoul Schwark 6-4, 6-7, 12-10.
Rice returns to Houston next weekend, taking on No. 23 North Carolina on Friday and No. 65 Vanderbilt on Sunday. Both matches will be played indoors at the Downtown Club at the Met.
Results
No. 29 Rice 6, No. 32 Minnesota 1
Doubles
1) Schwark/Kantar (UM) def. Knupfer/Scheil (RU), 9-8
2) Mok/Müller (RU) def. Wilkins/Geatz (UM), 8-2
3) Pham/Osorio (UM) def. Harknett/Paroci (RU), 9-8
Singles
1) No. 50 Ben Harknett (RU) def. No. 77 Andres Osorio (UM), 6-4, 6-4
2) Filip Paroci (RU) def. No. 58 Raoul Schwark (UM), 6-4, 6-7, 12-10
3) Ralph Knupfer (RU) def. D.J. Geatz (UM), 6-2, 6-3
4) Tobias Scheil (RU) def. Mikey Kantar (UM), 6-1, 4-6, 7-6
5) Christoph Müller (RU) def. Nick Edlefsen (UM), 7-6, 6-3
6) Jason Mok (RU) def. Dino Bilankov (UM), 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
Players Mentioned
