Friday, February 5
Murfreesboro, Tenn.
5 PM
Rice University
3
at
4
Middle Tennessee
Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice University
Blue Raiders Rally to Edge Owls
2/5/2021 9:21:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Next Up: @Vanderbilt on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
Murfreesboro: Two familiar postseason foes staged a regular season battle every bit as intense as Middle Tennessee fought back to preserve its winning streak and edge Rice, 4-3. The win was MTSU's 21st consecutive at the Adams Tennis Complex.
Doubles: The first point of the day set the tone for the next three and a half hours as the doubles point was decided by a mere four games. The Blue Raiders battled back to take the point thanks to late service breaks on the second and third lines by identical 7-5 scores while the battle at the first line was in a tiebreak when the point was decided.
Singles: Faced with an uphill battle, the Owls immediate went to work winning four of six first sets in singles. After MTSU extended the lead to 2-0, Sumit Sarkar answered quickly with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Tom Moonen and Wes Barnett followed shortly after with a straight set win over Max Rauch. Mohamed Abdel Aziz shook off loss in his second set to break a 3-3 deadlock in the third to defeat Chris Edge in three sets and pull the Owls in front. After MTSU knotted the score at 3-3, Jacob Eskeland and Stijn Slump battled evenly through their first 32 games before Slump broke in the 33rd game, then held serve to end the match.
Up Next: The Owls wrap up weekend action on the road when they face Vanderbilt in Nashville at 10:30 a.m.
Doubles: The first point of the day set the tone for the next three and a half hours as the doubles point was decided by a mere four games. The Blue Raiders battled back to take the point thanks to late service breaks on the second and third lines by identical 7-5 scores while the battle at the first line was in a tiebreak when the point was decided.
Singles: Faced with an uphill battle, the Owls immediate went to work winning four of six first sets in singles. After MTSU extended the lead to 2-0, Sumit Sarkar answered quickly with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Tom Moonen and Wes Barnett followed shortly after with a straight set win over Max Rauch. Mohamed Abdel Aziz shook off loss in his second set to break a 3-3 deadlock in the third to defeat Chris Edge in three sets and pull the Owls in front. After MTSU knotted the score at 3-3, Jacob Eskeland and Stijn Slump battled evenly through their first 32 games before Slump broke in the 33rd game, then held serve to end the match.
Up Next: The Owls wrap up weekend action on the road when they face Vanderbilt in Nashville at 10:30 a.m.
Players Mentioned
WBB: Rice vs. Marshall Postgame Presser
Wednesday, March 09
VB: Rice-Texas Postgame Presser
Saturday, December 04
VB: Rice-San Diego Postgame Presser
Thursday, December 02