Rice University
Middle Tennessee
Owls Fall in C-USA Tourney Opener
4/20/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
by Chuck Pool (cpool@rice.edu) -
The Rice men's tennis team saw its 2018 season and two-year run as conference champion come to a close on Friday as 39th ranked Middle Tennessee raced past the Owls 4-0 in the opening round of the 2018 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship.
"We got beat by a better team who came in on a hot streak and from the start of the match, they didn't waste a single opportunity we gave them," Rice head coach Efe Ustundag said. "In the first games in doubles, we had deuce points on all three courts and they won all three. That pretty much summed up the day.
`We knew the coming in, we would have to play an extremely clean match and not give them too many openings, but that didn't happen. Sumit played a very good match in singles and won some tough games, continuing his great play over the last part of the year. Eric had a great opening set, but he could never convert the opportunity to get the break back in the second set. "
The Blue Raiders (22-4) won their 10th consecutive match and avenged a loss in last year's C-USA semifinal match to the Owls (9-17).
Unlike the regular season meeting between the two schools that saw the doubles point decided by a tiebreaker, the Blue Raiders raced to the early lead by winning on courts two and three.
They carried that momentum on into singles, earning a return to the semifinals with wins at the third, fifth and sixth positions.
Each of the top four seeds advanced in the tournament.
Top-seeded Old Dominion, looking to reach the title match for the third consecutive year, dispatched UAB, 4-0. The Monarchs will take on fourth seeded Southern Miss, who edged Charlotte 4-3. Middle Tennessee will face FAU, a 4-2 winner over UTSA.
Due to threatening weather, start time for the semifinals has been moved from noon to 10 a.m. on Saturday at the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
While the 2017-18 season came to an early end, Ustundag said he was proud of the effort his team put forth during the year.
"I am proud of this team and way they tackled every challenge this year. It is always sad when you have a season end, but in this case, with no seniors on the team, we were not saying goodbye to anyone after the match. We have some talented players coming in next fall to join this group and I know we will be a stronger and deeper team that will be right back in the thick of the C-USA race next year.
"I can't wait to get back on the court with these guys in a few months so we can get back to work to make that happen," Ustundag added.
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:
6,3,5