Rice University
USC
No. 9 Trojans Deny No. 17 Owls' Upset Bid
3/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 7, 2007
LOS ANGELES -- The 17th-ranked Rice men were denied their upset bid as No. 9 Southern California took a tough 4-3 decision on Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles, Calif.
The teams split the first two doubles matches as the Owls' Ben Harknett and Filip Paroci downed Adam Loucks and Garrett Snyder 8-4 at No. 3. The Trojans then prevailed at the top spot to secure the first point of the day.
In singles, USC quickly pushed to a 3-0 lead with wins at the five and six positions before 116th-ranked Ralph Knupfer struck a blow for Rice with his 7-5, 6-0 upset of 77th-ranked Dejan Cvetkovic at No. 2 as the final three matches headed to third sets. The Trojans' Kaes Van't Hof clinched the team win as he out-lasted Paroci 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 at No.3.
Harknett and Christoph Müller both rallied from a set back to win their matches and close out the scoring for Rice. Harknett, ranked 25th, defeated 45th-ranked Jamil Al-Agba 0-6, 6-2, 6-4 at the top spot, then Müller downed Robert Farah 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 at four.
Rice falls to 9-4 with the loss while USC remains unbeaten at 10-0. The Owls conclude their stay in California on Saturday when they face No. 72 San Diego at 2:30 pm.
Results
No. 9 USC 4, No. 17 Rice 3
Doubles
1. No. 36 Al-Agba/Cvetkovic (USC) def. Knupfer/Scheil (RU), 8-4
2. Farah/Van't Hof (USC) def. Mok/Müller (RU), 8-3
3. Harknett/Paroci (RU) def. Adam Loucks/Garrett Snyder (USC), 8-4
Singles
1. No. 25 Ben Harknett (RU) def. No. 45 Jamil Al-Agba (USC), 0-6, 6-2, 6-4
2. No. 116 Ralph Knupfer (RU) def. No. 77 Dejan Cvetkovic (USC), 7-5, 6-0
3. Kaes Van't Hof (USC) def. Filip Paroci (RU), 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
4. Christoph Müller (RU) def. Robert Farah (USC), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
5. No. 113 Jason McNaughton (USC) def. Tobias Scheil (RU), 6-3, 6-3
6. Gary Sacks (USC) def. No. 97 Jason Mok (RU), 6-1, 6-2
Order of Finish: D2, D3, D1, S6, S5, S2, S3, S1, S4
Players Mentioned
