Rice University Athletics
Surging Owls Take Top Seed into Matchup with Charlotte
4/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
The Rice men's tennis team will look to return to the C-USA title match for the first time since 2011 when they face off against Charlotte in the semifinals of the 2015 C-USA Men's Tennis Championship at the Folkes-Stevens Tennis Center in Norfolk, Virginia.
First serves are set for 11 a.m. central. Live stats are available at http://www.odusports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=31100&ATCLID=210020033
The Owls enter play as the top seed, a position that hardly seemed likely during the formative months of the 2015 dual season, a period that saw the Owls drop close dual decisions to both Old Dominion and UTSA, who will meet on Saturday in the other semifinal, in addition to learning that one of the top returning players, Tommy Bennett, who require a redshirt year as he recovers from an injury.
The turning point to the season was the Owls stirring upset of then No. 19 Northwestern in late March. That win was followed by another win over a ranked opponent (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) while winning the Rice Invitational. Those two wins allowed the Owls to vault back into the national rankings and the cumulative weight of their difficult schedule allowed them to move past their conference rivals and earn the first round bye that comes with the top seed in the C-USA Championship.
Rice head coach Efe Ustundag said the Owls have earned the right to be the top seed and the right to take in the opening day of action as spectators, but the time has come to take the next step.
"it's a good feeling to be the top seed, because it shows the benefits of the challenging schedule we had this year," Ustundag said. "There were a number of times this year when we had matches on our racquets but let them slip away. I never stopped believing that this was a talented team that could do great things and we were able to take those early frustrations and grow from them.
"This team never stopped believing they were a championship caliber team. I wanted them to enjoy coming in here as the top seed because they earned that right. But we also know that there are great challenges ahead," Ustundag said.
Players Mentioned
