Saturday, March 6
Houston, Texas
11 AM
Rice University
4
vs
0
Abilene Christian
Owls Grind out win over ACU
3/6/2021 2:30:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Host No. 6 Texas on Friday afternoon
Houston: The Rice men's tennis team improved to 3-0 on their extended homestand by grinding out a 4-0 win over Abilene Christian at the George R. Brown Tennis Center on Saturday.
Doubles: Rice improved to 8-2 in doubles by picking up wins at the second and third lines. Wes Barnett and Trinity Grear gave the Owls the early advantage while Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and Campbell Salmon clinched it with a win at the second line.
Singles: Abdel-Aziz continued his hot play in singles, quickly adding the Owls second point with a 6-1, 6-1 win at the second line. He has won his last five dual singles matches. Freshman Trinity Grear added the third point with his second win of the year at the fifth line and Barnett provided the clincher with a win on three.
Efe Ustundag: "It was a tough week of school and anytime it's a midterm week, we always see the effects. We were a little sluggish and also fighting through some aches and pains. We had four guys who couldn't play. It was good to see Campbell back out there after missing a couple matches and get his feet wet by playing doubles. Adam's back has been bothering him, so we were really out there with five able bodies. People stepped up. Mo and Trinity added two quick points and it's 3-0, but then 30 minutes later, it feels like we're hanging on by a thread. ACU never goes away and we were not putting them away. Thankfully, Wes was able to hang on and get us off the courts. There's things to be happy about, but there certainly are things that we need to make sure don't happen next week (when the Owls host #6 Texas)."
Up Next: The Owls 12-match homestand continues on March 12 when they host 6th ranked Texas a 1 p.m. The Longhorns remain the defending NCAA champions--a title they captured in 2019--after the 2020 NCAA Championships were canceled due to the pandemic.
Doubles: Rice improved to 8-2 in doubles by picking up wins at the second and third lines. Wes Barnett and Trinity Grear gave the Owls the early advantage while Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and Campbell Salmon clinched it with a win at the second line.
Singles: Abdel-Aziz continued his hot play in singles, quickly adding the Owls second point with a 6-1, 6-1 win at the second line. He has won his last five dual singles matches. Freshman Trinity Grear added the third point with his second win of the year at the fifth line and Barnett provided the clincher with a win on three.
Efe Ustundag: "It was a tough week of school and anytime it's a midterm week, we always see the effects. We were a little sluggish and also fighting through some aches and pains. We had four guys who couldn't play. It was good to see Campbell back out there after missing a couple matches and get his feet wet by playing doubles. Adam's back has been bothering him, so we were really out there with five able bodies. People stepped up. Mo and Trinity added two quick points and it's 3-0, but then 30 minutes later, it feels like we're hanging on by a thread. ACU never goes away and we were not putting them away. Thankfully, Wes was able to hang on and get us off the courts. There's things to be happy about, but there certainly are things that we need to make sure don't happen next week (when the Owls host #6 Texas)."
Up Next: The Owls 12-match homestand continues on March 12 when they host 6th ranked Texas a 1 p.m. The Longhorns remain the defending NCAA champions--a title they captured in 2019--after the 2020 NCAA Championships were canceled due to the pandemic.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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