Friday, April 19
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
12 pm
Rice University
vs
Charlotte
Owls and Charlotte Face Off in C-USA Opener
4/18/2019 11:53:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Match moved back to noon on Friday
The Rice men's tennis team hopes to recapture some of the magic from its last trip to Middle Tennessee for the Conference USA Championship when the Owls open play in the 2019 event on Friday against Charlotte at noon.
The match was moved back from 10 a.m. due to the need to move the opening matches indoors because of anticipated heavy rains on Friday morning.
This will be the third meeting in history between the Owls and 49ers in men's tennis and the second consecutive meeting at the conference championship. They first met in a dual match in 2000 with the Owls winning 5-2. Rice took a 4-2 decision in the 2015 semifinals to earn the first of three consecutive championship berths. The Owls have reached the C-USA title match nine times since joining the conference in 2005-06, which matches Tulsa for the most of any school.
The Owls captured their second consecutive C-USA title in Murfreesboro in 2017, grinding out a pair of memorable wins over Middle Tennessee and Old Dominion to close out the weekend. The pursuit of that title also began with a revised schedule as the top-seeded Owls had to wait until late in the day to take to the Blue Raiders indoor courts at the Adams Tennis Complex.
The defeated UTSA in their opener, then edge Middle Tennessee 4-2 to reach the final against ODU for the second consecutive year, downing the Monarchs 4-2.
The Owls are led by sophomore Sumit Sarkar, who is currently ranked 41st in the nation in singles. He takes a 16-5 record at the first singles line into action this weekend, including a five-match winning streak against ranked opponents. He has been honored three times as C-USA's Male Tennis Athlete of the Week.
The match was moved back from 10 a.m. due to the need to move the opening matches indoors because of anticipated heavy rains on Friday morning.
This will be the third meeting in history between the Owls and 49ers in men's tennis and the second consecutive meeting at the conference championship. They first met in a dual match in 2000 with the Owls winning 5-2. Rice took a 4-2 decision in the 2015 semifinals to earn the first of three consecutive championship berths. The Owls have reached the C-USA title match nine times since joining the conference in 2005-06, which matches Tulsa for the most of any school.
The Owls captured their second consecutive C-USA title in Murfreesboro in 2017, grinding out a pair of memorable wins over Middle Tennessee and Old Dominion to close out the weekend. The pursuit of that title also began with a revised schedule as the top-seeded Owls had to wait until late in the day to take to the Blue Raiders indoor courts at the Adams Tennis Complex.
The defeated UTSA in their opener, then edge Middle Tennessee 4-2 to reach the final against ODU for the second consecutive year, downing the Monarchs 4-2.
The Owls are led by sophomore Sumit Sarkar, who is currently ranked 41st in the nation in singles. He takes a 16-5 record at the first singles line into action this weekend, including a five-match winning streak against ranked opponents. He has been honored three times as C-USA's Male Tennis Athlete of the Week.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
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