Friday, March 12
Houston, Texas
1:00 pm
Rice University
1
vs
6
Texas
6th Ranked Longhorns Hold Off Owls
3/12/2021 9:29:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Host Trinity at 11 a.m Saturday
Houston: No. 6 Texas race to an early lead in doubles and then fought back a late charge by Rice in singles to post a 6-1 win over the Owls on Friday and the George R. Brown Tennis Center.
Doubles: The Longhorns seized the early momentum by foiling Owls hopes to win the doubles point for the second consecutive year. The took the early lead with wins at the first two lines, handing Rice its third doubles loss in 11 matches.
Singles: Texas carried the doubles momentum over into singles, taking five of six first sets, three by 6-1 scores. Freshman Trinity Grear earned the Owls only first set lead, coming back from trailing 5-4 to take his opening set vs. Nevin Arimilli. After Texas extended the lead to 3-0, the Owls appeared on the verge of extending the match to third sets. Grear posted a win on six while Sumit Sarkar, Campbell Salmon and Wes Barnett all had their second sets on their racquets before falling.
Efe Ustundag: "One of the things we've been doing all spring is fighting well. We went down early with some tough 6-1 sets. Adam (Oscislawski) was 6-1, 6-1, but eight of those games were deuce points and he was 1-7 in them. That shows their (Texas) ability to play big points better. When there was an opportunity, they were going for their shot. They might have missed some, but the percentages were in their favor. We put ourselves in a situation where Sumit had a set point in his second set, Campbell had a set point and Wes had one. With what Trinity was doing on six, if we convert those, we are in third sets on the three remaining courts against the #6 team in the country. We have to do a better job attacking those situations and playing them more bravely."
Up Next: The Owls 12-match homestand continues on Saturday as they host Trinity at 11 a.m. as part of a combined dual with the Rice women's team.
Doubles: The Longhorns seized the early momentum by foiling Owls hopes to win the doubles point for the second consecutive year. The took the early lead with wins at the first two lines, handing Rice its third doubles loss in 11 matches.
Singles: Texas carried the doubles momentum over into singles, taking five of six first sets, three by 6-1 scores. Freshman Trinity Grear earned the Owls only first set lead, coming back from trailing 5-4 to take his opening set vs. Nevin Arimilli. After Texas extended the lead to 3-0, the Owls appeared on the verge of extending the match to third sets. Grear posted a win on six while Sumit Sarkar, Campbell Salmon and Wes Barnett all had their second sets on their racquets before falling.
Efe Ustundag: "One of the things we've been doing all spring is fighting well. We went down early with some tough 6-1 sets. Adam (Oscislawski) was 6-1, 6-1, but eight of those games were deuce points and he was 1-7 in them. That shows their (Texas) ability to play big points better. When there was an opportunity, they were going for their shot. They might have missed some, but the percentages were in their favor. We put ourselves in a situation where Sumit had a set point in his second set, Campbell had a set point and Wes had one. With what Trinity was doing on six, if we convert those, we are in third sets on the three remaining courts against the #6 team in the country. We have to do a better job attacking those situations and playing them more bravely."
Up Next: The Owls 12-match homestand continues on Saturday as they host Trinity at 11 a.m. as part of a combined dual with the Rice women's team.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2
#1 Singles Match
12
Eliot Spizzirri / 0 (120/-) [UT]
67
16
#2 Singles Match
12
Micah Braswell / 0 (78/-) [UT]
66
32
#3 Singles Match
12
Cleeve Harper / 0 [UT]
67
15
#4 Singles Match
12
Chih Chi Huang / 0 [UT]
67
36
#5 Singles Match
12
Evin McDonald / 0 [UT]
66
11
#6 Singles Match
12
Nevin Arimilli / 0 [UT]
54
76
Order of Finish:
5,2,3,1,6,4
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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