Rice University
UAB
Owls Open With Shutout of UAB
4/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 17, 2009
The 37th-ranked and No. 2 seed Rice wrapped up opening action of the 2009 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship with a 4-0 victory over No. 7 seed UAB at the UCF Tennis Complex in Orlando, Fla., Friday night.
With the win, the Owls advance to the semifinals against 68th-ranked SMU, who fell to the Owls 7-0 in the final dual match of the season last Sunday.
Rice's pair of ranked singles players cruised to straight-set wins on Friday. Bruno Rosa (#47) defeated UAB's Dan Cornei, 6-1, 6-1, at the No. 1 singles, while Christoph Müeller (#46) picked up a 6-3, 6-2 win over Brian Ly. Müeller and Sam Garforth-Bles concluded their matches at nearly the same time to clinch the win for the Owls. Garforth-Bles, playing at No. 4 singles, recorded identical 6-2 set scores over Blazer Alex Emery.
The Owls claimed the doubles point with wins at the top two positions. Müeller and Scheil, who are ranked 53rd in the latest ITA Rankings, eliminated UAB's Dennis Ehrlich and Slawomir Szeremeta, 8-3, at No. 1 doubles. Rosa and Isamu Tachibana of Rice def. Emery and Ly, 8-6, at No. 2 to end doubles play.
Since joining the league in 2005, Rice, Tulsa and SMU have each appeared in the conference championship semifinals, with the Owls and Golden Hurricane meeting in the finals for the last three years.
