Rice University
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Saturday Sweep Runs Owls' Streak to Three
3/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
The Rice men's tennis team started fast and then rallied late to down George Washington and 40th ranked Texas A&M Corpus Christi on the first day of action in the 57th Rice Invitational on Saturday at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
With the win the Owls (10-11) will advance to face Louisiana-Lafayette in the championship match at noon on Sunday. The Ragin Cajuns advanced with wins over the same two schools.
"We came out quickly against GW in the morning and then after coming out a little flat in the afternoon, we dug deep and found a fire in those third sets to beat a ranked Corpus Christi team," Rice head coach Efe Ustundag said. "It's a real credit to this team to finish in the style they did today."
The sweep gave the Owls a three-match winning streak and also a two-match streak of success against top 40 teams.
The one constant in both matches was the success they found in striking first with wins in doubles, with each point mirroring the way the singles portion of each match would play out.
In the morning match vs. George Washington, the Owls lost only three combined games on courts two and three to grab the point, while in the afternoon, they ground out comeback wins on courts one and three to gain the first point.
"We played really strong doubles in the morning, and maybe we were a little flat coming back out," Ustundag said. "We were down a break on two courts in the second match, but then the guys found a little fire and 10 minutes later we were off the court with a 1-0 lead."
David Warren won a pair of matches to improve to a team-leading 14-6 on the year and the Owls found points throughout the lineup on the day. Senior Srikar Alla closed out the day with a three-set win over Corpus' 70th ranked Peter Nagy, his second win over a ranked singles opponent in his last three matches.
"David was a horse again today." Ustundag said. "He was steady while the momentum was up and down on the courts around him. Srikar fought all day and earned that win. "
While the Owls were racing to their win in the opener, the Islanders were dropping a 4-3 verdict to Louisiana-Lafayette in equally quick fashion. Ustundag said it was important for the Owls to finish their work in the first match in order to be prepared for the afternoon encounter with and Islander team looking to rebound.
"After the doubles, we came out quickly in singles and took five of six first sets. But other than David, they came back to play much better in the second sets and there was a point where I didn't know if there were three points for us left on the courts. Then we came out in the third sets red hot and that seemed to take the air out of them," Ustundag stated.
Tennis Match Results
George Washington & Texas A&M Corpus Christi vs Rice
3/28/2015 at Houston, Texas
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
Rice 4, George Washington 0
Singles competition
1. Srikar Alla (RICE) vs. Danil Zelenkov (GW) 6-7, 1-4, unfinished
2. Max Andrews (RICE) vs. Francisco Dias (GW) 3-6, 3-5, unfinished
3. Jamie Malik (RICE) def. Chris Fletcher (GW) 6-0, 6-4
4. Adam Gustafsson (RICE) def. Julius Tverijonas (GW) 6-2, 6-4
5. David Warren (RICE) def. Chris Reynolds (GW) 6-2, 6-4
6. Zach Yablon (RICE) vs. C. Hadjigeorgiou (GW) 7-6, 1-2, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. David Warren/Max Andrews (RICE) vs. Francisco Dias/Danil Zelenkov (GW) unfinished
2. Jamie Malik/Zach Yablon (RICE) def. Chris Fletcher/Julius Tverijonas (GW) 6-2
3. Adam Gustafsson/Gustavo Gonzalez (RICE) def. Cahit Kapukiran/Chris Reynolds (GW) 6-1
Rice 4, #40 Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 1
Singles competition
1. Srikar Alla (RICE) def. #70 Peter Nagy (AMCC) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
2. Max Andrews (RICE) vs. Kevin Bettendroffer (AMCC) unfinished
3. Ricardo Mayagoitia (AMCC) def. Jamie Malik (RICE) 6-4, 7-5
4. Adam Gustafsson (RICE) vs. Guillaume Rauseo (AMCC) unfinished
5. David Warren (RICE) def. Javier Pujol (AMCC) 7-5, 6-2
6. Gustavo Gonzalez (RICE) def. Arthur Bedel (AMCC) 6-2, 7-6
Doubles competition
1. Max Andrews/David Warren (RICE) def. Arthur Bedel/Peter Nagy (AMCC) 6-4
2. Jamie Malik/Zach Yablon (RICE) vs. Kevin Bettendroffer/Guillaume Rauseo (AMCC) unfinished
3. Gustavo Gonzalez/Adam Gustafsson (RICE) def. Mitchell Cook/Paul Cook (AMCC) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (3,6,5,1)
George Washington 6-10
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 12-5
Rice 10-11
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (3,6,5,1)
Players Mentioned
