Rice University
UTSA
Owls Sweep Showcase
3/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Southern Miss Box Score / UTSA Box Score
by Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu) -
HATTIESBURG, MS-- Jamie Malik and Oscar Janglin completed an unbeaten weekend in which they won three matches in straight sets to pace the Rice Owls to a pair of wins and close out an unbeaten slate in the second annual C-USA Showcase at the Southern Miss Tennis Complex on Saturday.
Rice fought off a strong test from host Southern Miss, 4-2 on Saturday morning and then race to a 4-0 win over UTSA in a match moved up from Sunday due to a forecast of rain to close out the weekend.
"As a team, we played OK this weekend, but I was really proud of the work Jamie and Oscar put together," Rice head coach Efe Ustundag said. "They scored two quick points this morning after we fell behind and they gave us a quick lead this afternoon."
The Owls found themselves in a quick 2-0 deficit in the morning match against Southern Miss, dropping the doubles point and then taking a loss at the third line in singles. The Owls headed into singles knowing they needed at least four wins to avert the upset and Malik, Janglin and Eric Rutledge quickly obliged with first set wins. The hosts struck back with first set wins on three and four, but Tommy Bennett ground out an 8-6 tiebreaker in the first to keep the Owls on track.
"Tommy seems to get into a very comfortable rhythm after the tiebreak and was very comfortable in his service game in the second set," Ustundag said. "He was able to get the break at 5-4 and get us the clinch."
In the nightcap, the Owls raced to wins in five of six first sets and Malik, Janglin and Bennett kept up their pace to win for the second time on the day. Emanuel Llamas, who win a tiebreaker in his first set, provided the clinching point.
"I thought everybody played pretty well this afternoon," Ustundag said.
After a schedule that has seen them play 12 of the last 14 matches on the road, the Owls will finally be able to settle in to a home match routine over the next two weeks. They will host Cleveland State on Thursday at 5 p.m. and Dartmouth on Saturday at noon and then welcome Denver, UNLV and Texas A&M Corpus Christi on March 24-25 for the 59th Rice Invitational.
Team Stats
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
1,5,2,4
Players Mentioned
