Owls Draw Texas Tech In NCAA Regional Opener
5/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 3, 2011
Ron Smarr's Rice Owls (17-9) will face the 22nd ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders (16-9) in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship at the Baylor Tennis Center in Waco next weekend. The host Baylor Bears (19-4 and ranked fifth in the country), who earned the fifth seed in the championship, will host No. 70 Texas A&M Corpus Christi (15-9) in other first round match in Waco.
The Owls earned their ninth consecutive NCAA bid with one of the 33 at large selections made by the selection committee to go along with 31 teams who earned automatic berths thanks to winning their conference championship.
"Any time you get into the NCAA Championship, it's something to be proud of," Rice head coach Ron Smarr said. "I am very proud of the way this team battled. At one point this year, our chances did not look so good. But give the players all the credit. It looked like we needed to beat a very tough SMU team twice to make a good case, and went out and did it," Smarr added.
Rice will carry a #43 ranking into their ninth consecutive NCAA Championship and will be meeting Texas Tech for the first time since 2007 when the Red Raiders took a 4-3 decision at in Lubbock. The Owls hold a 17-8 lead in the all-time series.
"We have not played them for a few years, but they have a very good program," Smarr said. "It will be a difficult challenge, but that's what you expect when you reach the NCAA championship."
The Owls are returning to Waco for NCAA action for the second consecutive year, and will be playing in the state of Texas during NCAA action for the seventh time in their nine consecutive appearances (Texas in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2008, Texas A&M in 2007; Baylor in 2010).
Last year, Rice battled back from a 3-1 deficit to stun 25th ranked Washington 4-3 and advance to the round of 32 for the fourth time in their last eight NCAA appearances under Smarr. Their best finish in recent history came in 2004 when they advanced to the Round of 16. That year, they earned their berth in the tournament by capturing the WAC Championship.
"Considering all that's happened to this team this year, we are capable of doing well next weekend. We've made it nine years in a row, but only twice as conference champs. To do that, you have to play a tough schedule and be able to battle through things. That's a tribute to the type of players that we've over the years and this group is no exception," Smarr added.
The winner of the first and second round games at Baylor will advance to the NCAA Round of 16 at the Taube Tennis Center on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, which will get underway on May 19.
The NCAA will announce individual qualifiers in both singles and doubles competition later this week.