Tuesday, February 11
Houston, TX
3 PM
Rice University
4
vs
0
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
Owls Blank Islanders
2/11/2020 7:21:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Strong efforts in doubles set the tone
Houston: Sparked by the best doubles effort of the season, Sumit Sarkar, Karol Paluch and Jacob Eskeland raced to straight set wins in singles to close out Rice to a 4-0 win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi in a match moved indoors to the Boniuk Family Tennis Center.
Doubles: Neither team could carve out an advantage in the early going as all three matches remained on serve. The Islanders picked up the first service break at the third line at 3-3, but while the Owls tandem of Adam Oscislawski and Eric Rutledge broke back to stay on the court, the Owls fashioned late breaks of their own at the first two lines to grab the point. Sumit Sarkar and Conrad Russell broke at 5-4 to finish first and Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and Campbell Salmon served out after a break of their own to close out the point.
Singles: Starting with four singles matches, the Owls maintained their momentum by taking three of four first sets and closed strongly by not losing a game in second sets at the third and fourth lines. Sarkar breezed to a 6-0,6-3 win at the first line and was followed by Karol Paluch and Jacob Eskeland, who posted matching 6-3, 6-0 results.
Efe Ustundag: "We checked all the boxes today. It started with the quality of our spirit and energy in doubles. Our energy and competitive level were at an all-time high. We put three different (doubles) teams out there today and they all brought energy and competitive spirit to the courts. We had opportunities early in the (doubles) sets to go up break. We were holding comfortably at one and all it took was one good game of returns. At two, a couple good returns gave us some confidence to get the break. Serving out was not as clean as we'd thought it would be but we got it done. Sumit came out in singles and got a quick break, jumped out 3-0 right away. Then we got early breaks at three and four. Both Karol and Jacob served out at 5-3 in their first sets, then they finish it out 6-0, 6-0. That's what you want to see. Campbell had a lot of break opportunities in his first set and then was broken to lose his first set. But he showed the tenacity to come back to break early in the second and was up 5-2 when we stopped. Eric was down 4-1 having come on the court later, but was back on serve when we clinched."
Up Next: The Owls wrap up a three-match homestand on Sunday when they host Abilene Christian at noon.
Tennis Match Results
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs Rice
2/11/2020 at Houston, TX
(Boniuk Family Tennis Center)
Rice 4, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 0
Singles competition
1. Sumit Sarkar def. William Mottet (AMCC) 6-0, 6-3
2. Campbell Salmon vs. Thomas Rodrigues (AMCC) 3-6, 5-2, unfinished
3. Karol Paluch def. Ryuya Ata (AMCC) 6-3, 6-0
4. Jacob Eskeland def. Pascal Lorieul (AMCC) 6-3, 6-0
5. Eric Rutledge vs. Kyohei Yamanaka (AMCC) 3-4, unfinished
6. Conrad Russell vs. Carlos Berna Ruiz (AMCC) 0-0, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Conrad Russell/Sumit Sarkar def. William Mottet/Ryuya Ata (AMCC) 6-4
2. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz/Campbell Salmon def. Carlos Berna Ruiz/Kyohei Yamanaka (AMCC) 6-3
3. Adam Oscislawski/Eric Rutledge vs. Thomas Rodrigues/Pascal Lorieul (AMCC) 5-4, unfinished
Match Notes:
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 9-2
Rice 2-3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (1,3,4)
T-1:43 A-15
Doubles: Neither team could carve out an advantage in the early going as all three matches remained on serve. The Islanders picked up the first service break at the third line at 3-3, but while the Owls tandem of Adam Oscislawski and Eric Rutledge broke back to stay on the court, the Owls fashioned late breaks of their own at the first two lines to grab the point. Sumit Sarkar and Conrad Russell broke at 5-4 to finish first and Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and Campbell Salmon served out after a break of their own to close out the point.
Singles: Starting with four singles matches, the Owls maintained their momentum by taking three of four first sets and closed strongly by not losing a game in second sets at the third and fourth lines. Sarkar breezed to a 6-0,6-3 win at the first line and was followed by Karol Paluch and Jacob Eskeland, who posted matching 6-3, 6-0 results.
Efe Ustundag: "We checked all the boxes today. It started with the quality of our spirit and energy in doubles. Our energy and competitive level were at an all-time high. We put three different (doubles) teams out there today and they all brought energy and competitive spirit to the courts. We had opportunities early in the (doubles) sets to go up break. We were holding comfortably at one and all it took was one good game of returns. At two, a couple good returns gave us some confidence to get the break. Serving out was not as clean as we'd thought it would be but we got it done. Sumit came out in singles and got a quick break, jumped out 3-0 right away. Then we got early breaks at three and four. Both Karol and Jacob served out at 5-3 in their first sets, then they finish it out 6-0, 6-0. That's what you want to see. Campbell had a lot of break opportunities in his first set and then was broken to lose his first set. But he showed the tenacity to come back to break early in the second and was up 5-2 when we stopped. Eric was down 4-1 having come on the court later, but was back on serve when we clinched."
Up Next: The Owls wrap up a three-match homestand on Sunday when they host Abilene Christian at noon.
Tennis Match Results
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi vs Rice
2/11/2020 at Houston, TX
(Boniuk Family Tennis Center)
Rice 4, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 0
Singles competition
1. Sumit Sarkar def. William Mottet (AMCC) 6-0, 6-3
2. Campbell Salmon vs. Thomas Rodrigues (AMCC) 3-6, 5-2, unfinished
3. Karol Paluch def. Ryuya Ata (AMCC) 6-3, 6-0
4. Jacob Eskeland def. Pascal Lorieul (AMCC) 6-3, 6-0
5. Eric Rutledge vs. Kyohei Yamanaka (AMCC) 3-4, unfinished
6. Conrad Russell vs. Carlos Berna Ruiz (AMCC) 0-0, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Conrad Russell/Sumit Sarkar def. William Mottet/Ryuya Ata (AMCC) 6-4
2. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz/Campbell Salmon def. Carlos Berna Ruiz/Kyohei Yamanaka (AMCC) 6-3
3. Adam Oscislawski/Eric Rutledge vs. Thomas Rodrigues/Pascal Lorieul (AMCC) 5-4, unfinished
Match Notes:
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 9-2
Rice 2-3
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (1,3,4)
T-1:43 A-15
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2
#1 Singles Match
12
William Mottet / 0 [AMCC]
03
66
#2 Singles Match
123
Thomas Rodrigues / 0 [AMCC]
620
35UF
#3 Singles Match
12
Ryuya Ata / 0 [AMCC]
30
66
#4 Singles Match
12
Pascal Lorieul / 0 [AMCC]
30
66
#5 Singles Match
12
Kyohei Yamanaka / 0 [AMCC]
40
3UF
#6 Singles Match
12
Carlos Berna Ruiz / 0 [AMCC]
00
0UF
Order of Finish:
1,3,4
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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