Rice University
Northwestern
Energized Owls Upset No. 19 Northwestern
3/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
In a season filled with near misses and almost memorable moments, Rice head men's tennis coach Efe Ustundag has repeatedly reminded his team of the impact that success on one court can have on the other matches in a dual.
On Wednesday night the message struck home in dramatic fashion as the Owls upset 19th ranked Northwestern at the George R. Brown Tennis Center in Houston.
With Rice leading 2-1, senior Srikar Alla completed a rally from an opening set loss to down Northwestern's 92nd ranked Sam Shropshire just as Andrews was fighting off a break in his second set vs. Strong Kirchheimer. Buoyed by the Alla's celebration one court over, Andrews closed out the match in strong fashion.
"All through the season, we have always stressed the importance of building the energy and putting up a fight no matter the outcome," Ustundag said. "Tonight you saw that happen over and over as they picked each other up. We started fast and never let up."
The win was the first for the Owls over a top 20 opponent since 2009 when they rallied for a 4-3 win at No. 12 Texas A&M and snapped a six-match winning streak for the Wildcats.
"This was a total team win," Ustundag said. "I think that perhaps Northwestern was a little flat at the start and we took advantage of that at the start. We played great doubles at one and three to get the point and then went right back out and took four first sets in singles.
Sophomore David Warren gave the Owls a 2-0 lead in rapid fashion with a straight set win on five.
"David never let up all night," Ustundag noted. "Getting off the court quickly and making it 2-0 really kept the pressure on them and you could see the impact that second point going up on the scoreboard had on the other matches."
Ironically Alla was not one of those four first set winners, but he shook off a 6-2 first set loss to tie his match with a 6-1 win in the second and then held serve throughout the third, setting the stage for Andrews' clinching point.
"Srikar was the MVP of the match tonight," Ustundag said. "Right about the time when perhaps some of our early energy was running out, he gave us another boost." The midweek matchup with Northwestern opens a busy week of action for the Owls at GRBTC. They will host George Washington, Texas A&M CC and Louisiana-Lafayette this weekend in the 57th annual Rice Invitational.
Tennis Match Results
Northwestern vs Rice
3/25/2015 at Houston, Texas
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
Rice 4, #19 Northwestern 1
Singles competition
1. Srikar Alla (RICE) def. #92 Sam Shropshire (NU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
2. Max Andrews (RICE) def. #102 Strong Kirchheimer (NU) 6-3, 7-5
3. Jamie Malik (RICE) vs. Konrad Zieba (NU) 5-7, 5-5, unfinished
4. Logan Staggs (NU) def. Adam Gustafsson (RICE) 6-4, 6-4
5. David Warren (RICE) def. Fedor Baev (NU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Gustavo Gonzalez (RICE) vs. Alp Horoz (NU) 7-6, 3-6, 2-1, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Max Andrews/David Warren (RICE) def. #69 Sam Shropshire/Alex Pasareanu (NU) 6-4
2. Fedor Baev/Strong Kirchheimer (NU) def. Jamie Malik/Zach Yablon (RICE) 6-2
3. Gustavo Gonzalez/Adam Gustafsson (RICE) def. Konrad Zieba/Alp Horoz (NU) 6-3
Match Notes:
Northwestern 12-6; National ranking #19
Rice 8-11
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (5,4,1,2)
T-2:40 A-100
Players Mentioned
