Rice University
Tulane
Owls Outlast Tulane to Advance to C-USA Semis
4/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 22, 2011
The Rice men's tennis team opened the defense of their Conference USA title by fending off the challenge of a spirited Tulane Green Wave team to take 4-0 decision that required nearly four hours to complete.
Senior Oscar Podlewski battled back from a stumble in his first singles set to win in three sets to move the 42nd ranked Owls (16-8) to the semifinals on Saturday afternoon to take on 74th ranked SMU at 3 p.m. The two teams met last Saturday at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium in Houston, with the Owls taking a 5-2 decision.
The doubles point proved to be an indicator of what was to follow as it came down to the final two games of the decisive third match. The two schools split doubles sets at No. 1 and No. 3 and the matchup at No. 2 was tied 6-6 before Michael Nuesslein and Christian Saravia rallied to win the last two games and put the Owls up 1-0.
Saravia and Nuesslein picked up where they left off in doubles by racing to straight set wins in singles to build the Rice lead to 3-0, but the Green Wave made the clinching fourth point elusive.
Podlewski dropped the opening set at No. 3 singles to Joe Young, but rallied back to even things with a 6-0 win in the second set and then closed out the match with a 6-4 win in the third.
Tennis Match Results
Tulane vs. Rice
Apr 22, 2011 at Tulsa, Okla.
(Case Tennis Center)
#42 Rice 4, Tulane 0
Singles competition
1. #108 Harry Fowler (RICE) vs. Idan Mark (TLN) 6-4, 6-5, unfinished
2. Peter Frank (RICE) def. Radu Ionescu (TLN) 6-1, 6-2
3. Oscar Podlewski (RICE) def. Joe Young (TLN) 4-6, 6-0, 6-3
4. Sam Garforth-Bles (RICE) vs. Rodrigo Rappaccioli (TLN) 7-6, 5-7, unfinished
5. Christian Saravia (RICE) vs. Shaye Wali (TLN) 7-5, 3-6, 5-3, unfinished
6. Michael Nuesslein (RICE) def. Adam Bernstein (TLN) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles competition
1. Idan Mark/Joe Young (TLN) def. Harry Fowler/Oscar Podlewski (RICE) 8-3
2. Christian Saravia/Michael Nuesslein (RICE) def. Shaye Wali/Rodrigo Rappaccioli (TLN) 8-6
3. #70 Peter Frank/Sam Garforth-Bles (RICE) def. Adam Bernstein/Takuma Ohashi (TLN) 8-2
Match Notes:
Tulane 11-11, 2-6 C-USA
Rice 16-8, 4-1 C-USA; National ranking #42
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,2,3)
Players Mentioned
