Sunday, February 16
Houston, TX
1 PM
Rice University
6
vs
1
Abilene Christian
Owls Roll Past Wildcats
2/16/2020 4:44:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Face No. 7 Texas A&M in College Station on Friday
Houston: Wes Barnett picked up his first collegiate dual win in singles to highlight Rice's 6-1 win over Abilene Christian at the George R. Brown Tennis Center on Sunday.
Doubles: Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and Campbell Salmon took advantage of an early break to go on to a 6-3 with win at the second line, but the doubles point was in doubt heading into the final games on the remaining courts as the first line went to a tiebreak and the match on court three was tied 5-5. Sumit Sarkar and Conrad Russell ended the drama with a 7-4 win in the tiebreak on one to give the Owls the first point of the day.
Singles: The Owls kept the pressure on by winning four of six first sets in singles and then seeing Barnett and Russell get off the courts quickly with wins. Campbell Salmon followed with the clinching point and Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and Karol Paluch added the final points for the Owls.
Efe Ustundag: "It wasn't as sharp a start of the match as we had against Corpus, but we turned it on very quickly. It was a great job at No. 2 (doubles) to get an early break and not give it back. There were a couple of breaks (at No. 1 doubles) that could have put the match away earlier, but we didn't capitalize. We had a slow start at No. 3, but came storming back from 0-3. We knew ACU was capable of playing really good doubles and would be very tough at the top of the lineup. Sumit had a tough day, but give credit to (Jonathan) Sheehy for playing big and playing aggressive. It was a solid job by the bottom of the lineup. Wes got his first win, Conrad followed with another good result for the second straight week. Mo (Abdel-Aziz) was 6-1, 3-1 and deuce point but goes all the way to the third set to get the win. Campbell had a tough first set then gets an early break in the second set and rolls with it. Karol gave up set but came back strong.
"That's back-to-back solid matches for us but the opposition quickly gets difficult. Texas A&M is a top 10 opponent who is coming off indoor nationals and then come home to play LSU in the combined match with the women's team. If we can have a good week of practice and continue to raise our level of intensity and energy, I think we'll have a battle. That's my expectation."
Up Next: Rice hits the road next week to take on 7th ranked Texas A&M on Friday, February 21 at 6 p.m. The Owls return to GRBTC two days later when the join with the Rice women's team to host LSU in a simultaneous dual at 11 a.m. on February 23.
Tennis Match Results
Abilene Christian vs Rice
2/16/2020 at Houston, TX
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
Rice 6, Abilene Christian 1
Singles competition
1. Jonathan Sheehy def. Sumit Sarkar (RICE) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
2. Dimitrios Azoidis vs. Karol Paluch (RICE) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
3. Campbell Salmon def. Jackson Fine (ACU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
4. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz def. Nikolas Moceanu (ACU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
5. Wes Barnett def. Savan Chhabra (ACU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Conrad Russell def. Riley Tran (ACU) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Conrad Russell/Sumit Sarkar def. Jackson Fine/Jonathan Sheehy (ACU) 7-6 (7-4)
2. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz/Campbell Salmon def. Nikolas Moceanu/Riley Tran (ACU) 6-3
3. Adam Oscislawski/Eric Rutledge vs. Dimitrios Azoidis/Savan Chhabra (ACU) 6-5, unfinished
Match Notes:
Abilene Christian 7-4
Rice 3-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (5,6,3,1,4,2)
T-2:41 A-65
Doubles: Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and Campbell Salmon took advantage of an early break to go on to a 6-3 with win at the second line, but the doubles point was in doubt heading into the final games on the remaining courts as the first line went to a tiebreak and the match on court three was tied 5-5. Sumit Sarkar and Conrad Russell ended the drama with a 7-4 win in the tiebreak on one to give the Owls the first point of the day.
Singles: The Owls kept the pressure on by winning four of six first sets in singles and then seeing Barnett and Russell get off the courts quickly with wins. Campbell Salmon followed with the clinching point and Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and Karol Paluch added the final points for the Owls.
Efe Ustundag: "It wasn't as sharp a start of the match as we had against Corpus, but we turned it on very quickly. It was a great job at No. 2 (doubles) to get an early break and not give it back. There were a couple of breaks (at No. 1 doubles) that could have put the match away earlier, but we didn't capitalize. We had a slow start at No. 3, but came storming back from 0-3. We knew ACU was capable of playing really good doubles and would be very tough at the top of the lineup. Sumit had a tough day, but give credit to (Jonathan) Sheehy for playing big and playing aggressive. It was a solid job by the bottom of the lineup. Wes got his first win, Conrad followed with another good result for the second straight week. Mo (Abdel-Aziz) was 6-1, 3-1 and deuce point but goes all the way to the third set to get the win. Campbell had a tough first set then gets an early break in the second set and rolls with it. Karol gave up set but came back strong.
"That's back-to-back solid matches for us but the opposition quickly gets difficult. Texas A&M is a top 10 opponent who is coming off indoor nationals and then come home to play LSU in the combined match with the women's team. If we can have a good week of practice and continue to raise our level of intensity and energy, I think we'll have a battle. That's my expectation."
Up Next: Rice hits the road next week to take on 7th ranked Texas A&M on Friday, February 21 at 6 p.m. The Owls return to GRBTC two days later when the join with the Rice women's team to host LSU in a simultaneous dual at 11 a.m. on February 23.
Tennis Match Results
Abilene Christian vs Rice
2/16/2020 at Houston, TX
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
Rice 6, Abilene Christian 1
Singles competition
1. Jonathan Sheehy def. Sumit Sarkar (RICE) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
2. Dimitrios Azoidis vs. Karol Paluch (RICE) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
3. Campbell Salmon def. Jackson Fine (ACU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
4. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz def. Nikolas Moceanu (ACU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
5. Wes Barnett def. Savan Chhabra (ACU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Conrad Russell def. Riley Tran (ACU) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Conrad Russell/Sumit Sarkar def. Jackson Fine/Jonathan Sheehy (ACU) 7-6 (7-4)
2. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz/Campbell Salmon def. Nikolas Moceanu/Riley Tran (ACU) 6-3
3. Adam Oscislawski/Eric Rutledge vs. Dimitrios Azoidis/Savan Chhabra (ACU) 6-5, unfinished
Match Notes:
Abilene Christian 7-4
Rice 3-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (5,6,3,1,4,2)
T-2:41 A-65
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
12
Jonathan Sheehy / 0 [ACU]
67
36
#2 Singles Match
123
Dimitrios Azoidis / 0 [ACU]
622
266
#3 Singles Match
12
Jackson Fine / 0 [ACU]
63
76
#4 Singles Match
123
Nikolas Moceanu / 0 [ACU]
163
636
#5 Singles Match
12
Savan Chhabra / 0 [ACU]
21
66
#6 Singles Match
12
Riley Tran / 0 [ACU]
43
66
Order of Finish:
5,6,3,1,4,2
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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