Friday, March 19
Houston, Texas
Noon
Rice University
vs
Texas Tech
Owls Ready for Return of Invitational
3/18/2021 8:33:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Ralph O'Connor Rice Invitational
In Brief: The Rice men's tennis team (7-6) will host the 62nd Ralph O'Connor Rice Invitational this weekend at the George R. Brown Tennis Center. The Owls will welcome #26 Texas Tech and C-USA rival FAU for the round robin event, with matches being held at noon on Friday through Sunday.
Fans in the Stands: Home matches at the George R. Brown Tennis Center are once again open to the public with the following guidelines.
Live Scoring
The Invitational: Launched in 1959 as a singles and doubles event at the Glencrest Country Club and the The Frank D. Guernsey Jr. and Wilber E. Hess Challenge Cup was introduced the next year to celebrate the winning team and individuals. The individual competition was discontinued in 1989 as the event moved to a dual format to determine the team champion. Seven past singles winners went on to be inducted into the ITA Men's Hall of Fame, including former Rice standouts Mike Estep and Harold Solomon as well as 1963 Wimbledon champion Chuck McKinley, who captured the 1960 title at Rice while competing for Trinity. Rice has won the team title 22 times, including a run of 10 consecutive wins from 2008 to 2017. Rice is 69-18 in Rice Invitational dual matches since 1989.
Texas Tech: The Red Raiders (8-2) moved up to 26th in the latest Oracle/ITA national poll and have won six straight, the most recent a 4-1 win over Oklahoma. They are appearing in their fifth Rice Invitational and have posted a 7-5 mark in their previous four appearances. They are 11-14 against the Owls in dual competition and have won the last three meetings since Rice stunned the 9th ranked Tech squad 4-3 to win the 2016 Invite title.
Ranked Players:
Singles: #37 Parker Wynn, #93 Ilgiz Valiev, #115 Reed Collier
FAU: The Owls are 5-6 this season and received votes in the most recent Oracle/ITA national rankings. This will be their first appearance in the Rice Invitational, the first regular season meeting between the two as members of C-USA and the first meeting between Rice and FAU in men's tennis at GRBTC. FAU leads the series 2-1 after taking a 4-1 win at the 2019 Conference USA Championship. Rice took a 4-2 decision in the last regular season meeting (in 2009). FAU has posted a 2-2 mark in four matches played against other schools when Rice hosting the C-USA Championship in 2016 and 2018.
Ranked Players:
Singles: #122 Maxime Lapraille
Notable:
• Rice is 10-3 so far this year in the doubles point (7-3 when winning the point).
• Mohamed Abldel-Aziz has won his last six of his last seven matches and Adam Oscislawski has won five of his last six.
• Sumit Sarkar and Conrad Russell have won four straight doubles matches and are 1-0 in doubles vs. Texas.
• Clinch points: Jacob Eskeland and Adam Oscislawski (2), Wes Barnett, Trinity Grear, Sumit Sarkar (1).
George R. Brown Tennis Center: Rice is 62-22 in dual action since moving into their current home in the fall of 2014. They are 6-8 all-time against ranked opponents.
The Schedule Ahead: This weekend's matches are the seventh and eighth of a stretch of 13 consecutive home duals on the current schedule. The upcoming home slate includes meetings with #26 Tulane, and #44 SMU.
Next Up: The Owls will join with the Rice women's team to host UTA in a combined dual on Thursday, March 25 at 1 p.m.
Follow the Action: For the most up-to-date information on Rice Tennis follow the Owls on Twitter @RiceTennis or Instagram @ricemtennis or like Rice Men's Tennis on Facebook.
Fans in the Stands: Home matches at the George R. Brown Tennis Center are once again open to the public with the following guidelines.
Live Scoring
The Invitational: Launched in 1959 as a singles and doubles event at the Glencrest Country Club and the The Frank D. Guernsey Jr. and Wilber E. Hess Challenge Cup was introduced the next year to celebrate the winning team and individuals. The individual competition was discontinued in 1989 as the event moved to a dual format to determine the team champion. Seven past singles winners went on to be inducted into the ITA Men's Hall of Fame, including former Rice standouts Mike Estep and Harold Solomon as well as 1963 Wimbledon champion Chuck McKinley, who captured the 1960 title at Rice while competing for Trinity. Rice has won the team title 22 times, including a run of 10 consecutive wins from 2008 to 2017. Rice is 69-18 in Rice Invitational dual matches since 1989.
Texas Tech: The Red Raiders (8-2) moved up to 26th in the latest Oracle/ITA national poll and have won six straight, the most recent a 4-1 win over Oklahoma. They are appearing in their fifth Rice Invitational and have posted a 7-5 mark in their previous four appearances. They are 11-14 against the Owls in dual competition and have won the last three meetings since Rice stunned the 9th ranked Tech squad 4-3 to win the 2016 Invite title.
Ranked Players:
Singles: #37 Parker Wynn, #93 Ilgiz Valiev, #115 Reed Collier
FAU: The Owls are 5-6 this season and received votes in the most recent Oracle/ITA national rankings. This will be their first appearance in the Rice Invitational, the first regular season meeting between the two as members of C-USA and the first meeting between Rice and FAU in men's tennis at GRBTC. FAU leads the series 2-1 after taking a 4-1 win at the 2019 Conference USA Championship. Rice took a 4-2 decision in the last regular season meeting (in 2009). FAU has posted a 2-2 mark in four matches played against other schools when Rice hosting the C-USA Championship in 2016 and 2018.
Ranked Players:
Singles: #122 Maxime Lapraille
Notable:
• Rice is 10-3 so far this year in the doubles point (7-3 when winning the point).
• Mohamed Abldel-Aziz has won his last six of his last seven matches and Adam Oscislawski has won five of his last six.
• Sumit Sarkar and Conrad Russell have won four straight doubles matches and are 1-0 in doubles vs. Texas.
• Clinch points: Jacob Eskeland and Adam Oscislawski (2), Wes Barnett, Trinity Grear, Sumit Sarkar (1).
George R. Brown Tennis Center: Rice is 62-22 in dual action since moving into their current home in the fall of 2014. They are 6-8 all-time against ranked opponents.
The Schedule Ahead: This weekend's matches are the seventh and eighth of a stretch of 13 consecutive home duals on the current schedule. The upcoming home slate includes meetings with #26 Tulane, and #44 SMU.
Next Up: The Owls will join with the Rice women's team to host UTA in a combined dual on Thursday, March 25 at 1 p.m.
Follow the Action: For the most up-to-date information on Rice Tennis follow the Owls on Twitter @RiceTennis or Instagram @ricemtennis or like Rice Men's Tennis on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ 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