Rice University
Oregon
Ducks Hold Off Owls Charge
1/28/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
by Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu) -
The Rice men's tennis team could not overcome a sluggish start in doubles and the Oregon Ducks took a 4-2 decision in the opening round of the 2017 ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Weller Indoor Tennis Center in Austin on Saturday.
Rice will face the loser of Saturday afternoon's Texas-Drake match in the consolation round at 10 a. m. on Sunday.
The Owls (4-2) jumped to an early lead, taking the doubles point for the sixth time in as many matches this season, buy the Ducks shook off that early deficit by busting out of the gate in singles, taking five of six first sets. Rice rallied to pick up a win by Emanuel Llamas on court six and saw David Warren extend his match to three sets, but Oregon snuffed out the rally when Jayson Amos edged Jake Hansen in a pair of tiebreakers, 7-6, 7-6.
"We continue to do some nice things in doubles, but we could not carry that momentum over to singles," Rice head coach Efe Ustundag said. "Oregon did a great job of putting the loss in doubles behind them and right away we were down a break on five of six courts."
The Ducks maintained their early pace to pick up three quick wins in singles to post a 3-1 lead. The Owls' one bright spot at the start of singles was Llamas who posted a 6-2 win for Rice's lone first set win in singles. The sophomore from El Paso, who teamed with Oscar Janglin to provide the clinch point in doubles, bounce back from a second set loss to provide the Owls' second point with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win over Ty Gentry.
"Manny did a solid job today, first with Oscar in doubles and then in singles," Ustundag said.
While Hansen and Amos were locked in a tight battle on court three, senior David Warren came back from a set down to take the second and was a point away from tying the match at 3-3, but Cormac Clissold fought back to extend the match and then broke Warren to take a 6-5 lead when Amos closed out Hansen.
"We're going to have to learn from this and get ready to come out ready to play tomorrow, because no matter who we face, we know it will be a battle," Ustundag stated.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1,4,6,3
Players Mentioned
