Rice University
North Carolina State
Rice Grabs 4-1 Win over No. 36 NC State
3/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 20, 2010
HOUSTON - Bruno Rosa and Michael Nusslein's three-set victories at No. 1 and No. 2 singles proved to be the deciding matches as No. 48 Rice defeated No. 36 North Carolina State 4-1 during the second day of the 52nd Rice Invitational.
The tournament was moved to the Galleria Tennis and Athletic Club on Saturday due to inclement weather but is expected to return to the Rice campus for the final day Sunday as the Owls will play host to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 1 p.m. Tulane will take on North Carolina State also on Sunday.
Rice lost the doubles point as North Carolina State won two of three matches. With the teams each owning one doubles victory, Frideric Prandecki and Fernando Banos gave the Wolfpack an early 1-0 lead in the match with a 9-8 win over Rosa and Isamu Tachibana at No. 2 doubles.
But playing at No. 1 singles and ranked No. 34 nationally, Rosa came back from an opening set loss to defeat No. 94 Jaime Pulgar 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. Rosa trailed in the second set 5-3 before mounting a comeback to give Rice a 3-1 lead in the match.
Sam Garforth-Bles had earlier dispatched NC State's Rob Lowe 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3 singles and Oscar Podlewski had defeated Dave Thomson 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 at No. 4.
Nusslein's 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory at No. 2 proved to be the deciding point.
With the win, Rice evened its record at 8-8 while North Carolina State dropped to 11-4.
Players Mentioned
