Rice University
SMU
SMU Upsets Rice 4-3
4/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 13, 2007
HOUSTON -- After moving indoors due to rain in the area, the No. 27 Rice men were upset by No. 61 SMU in a 4-3 decision on Friday at the Downtown Club at the Met.
Beginning the day with singles, the Owls jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Tobias Scheil struck first with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Federico Murgier at four singles. Christoph Müller then posted a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Oivind Alverat three. The Mustangs responded with wins at the top spot and at five, before Ralph Knupfer put Rice ahead 3-2 as he downed David Kuczer 7-6, 6-4 at two singles. SMU answered again with a three-set decision at six to send the match to doubles.
The Owls once again took the early lead as Ben Harknett and Müller beat Alver and Robin Fahgen 8-3 at two. The Mustangs came on strong again with wins at one and three to clinch the deciding doubles point and the team victory.
With the loss, Rice falls to 13-9 on the year while SMU improves to 15-8. The Owls wrap up the 2007 regular season on Sunday, hosting No. 18 Michigan at 11 am at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.
Rice also serves as the host of the 2007 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship, April 20-22 at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.
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#61 Southern Methodist 4, #27 Rice
Singles
1. #72 Alex Skrypko (SMU) def. #28 Ben Harknett (RICE) 6-3, 6-4
2. #95 Ralph Knupfer (RICE) def. David Kuczer (SMU) 7-6, 6-4
3. Christoph Müller (RICE) def. Oivind Alver (SMU) 6-4, 6-4
4. Tobias Scheil (RICE) def. Federico Murgier (SMU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Robin Fahgen (SMU) def. Jason Mok (RICE) 6-3, 6-2
6. Adolfo Solares (SMU) def. Hoony Shin (RICE) 6-7, 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
1. Federico Murgier/Alex Skrypko (SMU) def. #59 Ralph Knupfer/Tobias Scheil (RICE) 8-4
2. Ben Harknett/Christoph Müller (RICE) def. Oivind Alver/Robin Fahgen (SMU) 8-3
3. David Kuczer/Adolfo Solares (SMU) def. Dennis Polyakov/Jason Mok (RICE) 8-5
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (3,4,1,5,2,6)
Players Mentioned
