Wednesday, March 11
Houston, TX
Noon
Rice University
1
vs
6
#7 TCU
TCU Outlasts Owls
3/11/2020 6:05:00 PM | Men's Tennis
C-USA Opener vs. Middle Tennessee on Friday
Houston: Facing their second top-ten opponent in the last four days, the Rice men's tennis team saw their hopes for an upset turned back by No. 7 TCU in a 6-1 dual victory.
Doubles: The Owls hoped to build on the momentum of their win at the first line at Texas over the 9th ranked doubles team, but TCU's 55th ranked duo of Sander Jong and Tadeas Paroulek broke open a tight match with a service break midway through the match to defeat Conrad Russell and Sumit Sarkar, 6-3. At the second line, Karol Paluch and Campbell Salmon nearly dug out of a 4-0 hole, battling back to tie it 5-5 before dropping a 7-5 decision to give TCU the first point of the match. At the third line, Wes Barnett and Eric Rutledge converted a series of early deuce points to stay on serve and led 6-5 with TCU serving when the point was clinched.
Singles: TCU took wins on five of six courts despite early challenges from the Owls. Conrad Russell put the Owls on the board, cutting the Horned Frogs' lead to 3-1 when TCU's Tomas Jirousek suffered an injury up one set but trailing 3-0 in the second.
Efe Ustundag: "I thought it was a focused match. Not as high as energy as I would have liked, but we were taking care of business. We go down 4-0 at number two doubles right away and that puts a lot of pressure on the other two courts when they see that. Everyone starts worrying about on break. We played one bad game at number one and that turned out to be the difference in the match. It would have been nice after the nice win on Sunday to keep that level of tennis up and they have the ability to do it, but they also are not facing any free rides. We had some great battles in singles and had some opportunities. Conrad really started playing good tennis after he was down 5-2 in the first and I felt good the way he was playing. I hope the injury to (Jirousek) is not too serious. Eric had a good battle and took it to 4-1 in the third. Then it was a couple points in a couple of games and he was just one or two points short. I told the guys I am watching a better group of competitors playing at a higher level than I saw on the court a month ago. We're in a period of a lot of matches and we're being extended, but it's obvious their excitement for the competitions is increasing each day. We've seen as strong lineup of competition as anyone else in the country, we've played three top ten teams and two others in the top 20. The determining factor for the rest of the season is how we how we move forward and use these experiences moving forward."
Up Next: The Owls (4-8) return to GRBTC on Friday when they host 41st ranked and defending C-USA champion Middle Tennessee at 5 p.m.
Tennis Match Results
TCU vs Rice
3/11/2020 at Houston, TX
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
#7 TCU 6, Rice 1
Singles competition
1. Alastair Gray (TCU) def. Sumit Sarkar 6-1, 6-4
2. Luc Fomba (TCU) def. Jacob Eskeland 6-4, 6-3
3. Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) def. Campbell Salmon 6-3, 7-5
4. Sander Jong (TCU) def. Karol Paluch 6-2, 6-2
5. Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. Eric Rutledge 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Conrad Russell def. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) 4-6, 3-0, retired
Doubles competition
1. #55 Sander Jong/Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) def. Conrad Russell/Sumit Sarkar 6-3
2. Luc Fomba/Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. Karol Paluch/Campbell Salmon 6-4
3. Wes Barnett/Eric Rutledge vs. Alastair Gray/Max Kurzban (TCU) 6-5, unfinished
Match Notes:
TCU 12-4; National ranking #7
Rice 4-8
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (1,4,6,2,3,5)
T-2;44 A-65
Doubles: The Owls hoped to build on the momentum of their win at the first line at Texas over the 9th ranked doubles team, but TCU's 55th ranked duo of Sander Jong and Tadeas Paroulek broke open a tight match with a service break midway through the match to defeat Conrad Russell and Sumit Sarkar, 6-3. At the second line, Karol Paluch and Campbell Salmon nearly dug out of a 4-0 hole, battling back to tie it 5-5 before dropping a 7-5 decision to give TCU the first point of the match. At the third line, Wes Barnett and Eric Rutledge converted a series of early deuce points to stay on serve and led 6-5 with TCU serving when the point was clinched.
Singles: TCU took wins on five of six courts despite early challenges from the Owls. Conrad Russell put the Owls on the board, cutting the Horned Frogs' lead to 3-1 when TCU's Tomas Jirousek suffered an injury up one set but trailing 3-0 in the second.
Efe Ustundag: "I thought it was a focused match. Not as high as energy as I would have liked, but we were taking care of business. We go down 4-0 at number two doubles right away and that puts a lot of pressure on the other two courts when they see that. Everyone starts worrying about on break. We played one bad game at number one and that turned out to be the difference in the match. It would have been nice after the nice win on Sunday to keep that level of tennis up and they have the ability to do it, but they also are not facing any free rides. We had some great battles in singles and had some opportunities. Conrad really started playing good tennis after he was down 5-2 in the first and I felt good the way he was playing. I hope the injury to (Jirousek) is not too serious. Eric had a good battle and took it to 4-1 in the third. Then it was a couple points in a couple of games and he was just one or two points short. I told the guys I am watching a better group of competitors playing at a higher level than I saw on the court a month ago. We're in a period of a lot of matches and we're being extended, but it's obvious their excitement for the competitions is increasing each day. We've seen as strong lineup of competition as anyone else in the country, we've played three top ten teams and two others in the top 20. The determining factor for the rest of the season is how we how we move forward and use these experiences moving forward."
Up Next: The Owls (4-8) return to GRBTC on Friday when they host 41st ranked and defending C-USA champion Middle Tennessee at 5 p.m.
Tennis Match Results
TCU vs Rice
3/11/2020 at Houston, TX
(George R. Brown Tennis Center)
#7 TCU 6, Rice 1
Singles competition
1. Alastair Gray (TCU) def. Sumit Sarkar 6-1, 6-4
2. Luc Fomba (TCU) def. Jacob Eskeland 6-4, 6-3
3. Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) def. Campbell Salmon 6-3, 7-5
4. Sander Jong (TCU) def. Karol Paluch 6-2, 6-2
5. Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. Eric Rutledge 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
6. Conrad Russell def. Tomas Jirousek (TCU) 4-6, 3-0, retired
Doubles competition
1. #55 Sander Jong/Tadeas Paroulek (TCU) def. Conrad Russell/Sumit Sarkar 6-3
2. Luc Fomba/Bertus Kruger (TCU) def. Karol Paluch/Campbell Salmon 6-4
3. Wes Barnett/Eric Rutledge vs. Alastair Gray/Max Kurzban (TCU) 6-5, unfinished
Match Notes:
TCU 12-4; National ranking #7
Rice 4-8
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (1,4,6,2,3,5)
T-2;44 A-65
Players Mentioned
/ 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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