Rice University
Cornell
Freshmen Spark Owls Over Cornell
2/5/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Ithaca, NY - By Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu)
Freshmen Jake Hansen and Emanuel Llamas clinched the doubles point and then added wins in singles to spark No. 50 Rice to a 4-1 win over No. 60 Cornell at the Reis Tennis Center in Ithaca, New York on Friday.
The Owls improved to 6-0 on the season and will wrap up their weekend trip by facing No. 21 Northwestern on Saturday morning.
Rice set the tone early in doubles with Tommy Bennett and Jamie Malik racing to a 6-1 win on court two and Hansen and Llamas following shortly after with a 6-3 verdict on court three.
When singles action opened, senior Adam Gusafsson quickly extended the Owls lead to 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Cornell's Chris Vrabel on court three. David Volfson of Cornell cut the margin to 2-1 with a 6-2. 6-3 win over Bennet on court one, but Hansen answered back with a 6-3, 6-2 decision over Bernardo Casares Rosa, putting the Owls one point from the clinch.
The final point proved to be more problematic and Llamas was forced to a third set, while Malik and David Warren were also locked in tight battles. But the freshman from San Antonio shook off a second set loss to Cornell freshman Maverick Lin with a strong third set to run his dual mark to 4-1 with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 win.
Players Mentioned
