Russell and Sarkar Qualify for NCAA Doubles
5/4/2021 6:23:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Duo earns C-USA automatic bid
Conrad Russell and Sumit Sarkar will have at least one more opportunity to represent Rice in competition as the duo have earned Conference USA's automatic berth in the NCAA Men's Doubles Championship later this month.
The doubles competition will be conducted May 23-28 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, after the conclusion of the team championship, which runs from May 17-22. The University of Central Florida and the Greater Orlando Sports Commission will serve as hosts.
Russell and Sarkar posted an 8-5 mark on the season and moved into the top 75 in the final weeks of the season, reaching their current high of 63 after the C-USA Championship. They were 1- 1 against ranked opponents, picking up a win over LSU's 90th ranked Rafael Wagner and Ronald Hohmann in January. Their last match came in the Owls loss to Old Dominion in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Championship. They were tied 4-4 with ODU's 76th ranked Luca Maldoner and Nicola Vidal when the Monarchs clinched the doubles point.
They are the ninth doubles team from Rice to qualify for the NCAA Doubles Championship since the NCAA moved to its current format in 1977 and the first to represent Rice since Tommy Bennett and David Warren made back-to-back appearances in 2016 & 2017. The Owls have produced a pair of All-American doubles team in the current format. Current Rice head coach Efe Ustundag and Shane Stone reached the third round 1999 while Richard and William Barker earned honors in both 2003 and 2004.
Automatic qualification into the Division I doubles championship is awarded to any conference with one or more eligible doubles teams ranked in the ITA Top 60 for eligible/entered doubles teams. For conferences with more than one doubles team within the ITA Top 60 eligible/entered doubles teams, the subcommittee applies the NCAA selection criteria to determine which doubles team is the automatic qualifier from those conferences. All doubles teams must have completed a minimum of four matches in order to be selected as an automatic qualifier or an at-large selection.
The doubles competition will be conducted May 23-28 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, after the conclusion of the team championship, which runs from May 17-22. The University of Central Florida and the Greater Orlando Sports Commission will serve as hosts.
Russell and Sarkar posted an 8-5 mark on the season and moved into the top 75 in the final weeks of the season, reaching their current high of 63 after the C-USA Championship. They were 1- 1 against ranked opponents, picking up a win over LSU's 90th ranked Rafael Wagner and Ronald Hohmann in January. Their last match came in the Owls loss to Old Dominion in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA Championship. They were tied 4-4 with ODU's 76th ranked Luca Maldoner and Nicola Vidal when the Monarchs clinched the doubles point.
They are the ninth doubles team from Rice to qualify for the NCAA Doubles Championship since the NCAA moved to its current format in 1977 and the first to represent Rice since Tommy Bennett and David Warren made back-to-back appearances in 2016 & 2017. The Owls have produced a pair of All-American doubles team in the current format. Current Rice head coach Efe Ustundag and Shane Stone reached the third round 1999 while Richard and William Barker earned honors in both 2003 and 2004.
Automatic qualification into the Division I doubles championship is awarded to any conference with one or more eligible doubles teams ranked in the ITA Top 60 for eligible/entered doubles teams. For conferences with more than one doubles team within the ITA Top 60 eligible/entered doubles teams, the subcommittee applies the NCAA selection criteria to determine which doubles team is the automatic qualifier from those conferences. All doubles teams must have completed a minimum of four matches in order to be selected as an automatic qualifier or an at-large selection.
Players Mentioned
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