Sunday, January 16
Houston, Texas
1 PM
Rice University
vs
Denver
Owls Open 2022 Campaign on Sunday
1/15/2022 3:13:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Summit League camp Denver opens season
Efe Ustundag's men's tennis team opens its 2022 dual season looking to incorporate both familiar faces and newcomers to a team that ended the fall tournament season on a high note with the goal of returning to the national rankings and the postseason.
The Owls open their campaign on Sunday when they host 2021 Summit League champion Denver at the George R. Brown Tennis Center in a match moved back to a 1 p.m. first serve from its original 11 a.m. start time.
This will be the third meeting between the Pioneers and Owls, with Rice having won the first two matches. Both teams return a majority of players from 2021 and both will be anxious to get an early gauge on their prospects for 2022.
Rice added a pair of freshmen, Haoyuan Huang and Eduardo Morais, at the semester break and also welcomes the return of Sumit Sarkar, who returns for a Super Senior spring campaign after taking a break from competition in the fall. Sakar has been a mainstay at the top of the Owls lineup throughout his career and was named the conference player of the year in 2019.
"Denver is a great challenge right off the bat," Ustundag said. "They won their conference and were ranked 48th in the country. They have the majority of the team returning so we know they will be coming in here with a confident group."
After a non-existent tournament season in 2020 due to pandemic protocols, Rice was able to compete in four events this past fall in preparation for the spring dual season. Those results set the tone of anticipation for the spring campaign.
Freshman Emir Sendogan led the way with a 7-5 record in singles while Dylan Heap, who transferred to Rice after Minnesota dropped its program, closed on a high note.
"Emir's work in the fall stood out but one of the really good stories was Dylan (Heap). He had a solid season playing in the Big Ten at Minnesota before they dropped the program. He was able to go home to New Zealand this summer but was not able to play in many tournaments. When he came here, he also had to adjust to a different style of tennis since he had played a lot of indoor tennis at Minnesota. I could see the progress he made in the fall and he finished on a pretty high note. He played three tough matches at the Rice Invite, all three-setters and he brings a leadership mentality as well from his experiences of playing in the Big Ten.
"We had eight guys in the fall who ended on a high note at the Rice Invitational," Ustundag said. "I felt like things were coming together, but I also knew that with Sumit coming back and with Haoyuan and Eduardo coming in we were adding tremendous strength."
Huang had originally intended to join the team in the fall, but while his arrival was delayed until the second semester, he used the time to pile up an impressive set of results in fall ITF events. He reached the main singles draw in five of nine events, highlighted by one appearance in the quarterfinals, and picked up 13 ranking points.
"We know these guys (Sarkar, Huang, and Morais) are going to make a difference, but it might take a couple weeks for them to be fully ready to go. It's great to know we are adding that kind of firepower to a roster that was really coming together in the fall," Ustundag added.
The 2022 schedule, which features a road assignment at Texas (ranked third in the preseason coaches poll) and a potential match with Arizona State (receiving votes in the poll), was constructed to maximize the team's postseason hopes.
"We don't have as many opponents in the top 10 as we have had in other years, but we wanted to put more focus on a group of teams that can help us get back in the national rankings," Ustundag noted. "It's always great when you can pull off that upset of a top team, but if you instead can pick up several wins against teams inside the top 40 that will help you much more."
The schedule also features three of the four 2021 C-USA semifinalists, including Charlotte and defending conference champion Middle Tennessee at home.
The immediate priority is to usher in the return to dual action for his team and utilize the early portion of the schedule to evaluate the team when facing competition outside of practices.
"I don't know how many of our guys will be fully ready to go by Sunday and I don't totally know what kind of opponent we will see in Denver. We both have some players who have dealt with training interruptions for a variety of reasons.
"I think these matches in January are going to be much more about making sure everyone is getting fully healthy and back into match shape and ready to go for the rest of the season," Ustundag added.
The Owls open their campaign on Sunday when they host 2021 Summit League champion Denver at the George R. Brown Tennis Center in a match moved back to a 1 p.m. first serve from its original 11 a.m. start time.
This will be the third meeting between the Pioneers and Owls, with Rice having won the first two matches. Both teams return a majority of players from 2021 and both will be anxious to get an early gauge on their prospects for 2022.
Rice added a pair of freshmen, Haoyuan Huang and Eduardo Morais, at the semester break and also welcomes the return of Sumit Sarkar, who returns for a Super Senior spring campaign after taking a break from competition in the fall. Sakar has been a mainstay at the top of the Owls lineup throughout his career and was named the conference player of the year in 2019.
"Denver is a great challenge right off the bat," Ustundag said. "They won their conference and were ranked 48th in the country. They have the majority of the team returning so we know they will be coming in here with a confident group."
After a non-existent tournament season in 2020 due to pandemic protocols, Rice was able to compete in four events this past fall in preparation for the spring dual season. Those results set the tone of anticipation for the spring campaign.
Freshman Emir Sendogan led the way with a 7-5 record in singles while Dylan Heap, who transferred to Rice after Minnesota dropped its program, closed on a high note.
"Emir's work in the fall stood out but one of the really good stories was Dylan (Heap). He had a solid season playing in the Big Ten at Minnesota before they dropped the program. He was able to go home to New Zealand this summer but was not able to play in many tournaments. When he came here, he also had to adjust to a different style of tennis since he had played a lot of indoor tennis at Minnesota. I could see the progress he made in the fall and he finished on a pretty high note. He played three tough matches at the Rice Invite, all three-setters and he brings a leadership mentality as well from his experiences of playing in the Big Ten.
"We had eight guys in the fall who ended on a high note at the Rice Invitational," Ustundag said. "I felt like things were coming together, but I also knew that with Sumit coming back and with Haoyuan and Eduardo coming in we were adding tremendous strength."
Huang had originally intended to join the team in the fall, but while his arrival was delayed until the second semester, he used the time to pile up an impressive set of results in fall ITF events. He reached the main singles draw in five of nine events, highlighted by one appearance in the quarterfinals, and picked up 13 ranking points.
"We know these guys (Sarkar, Huang, and Morais) are going to make a difference, but it might take a couple weeks for them to be fully ready to go. It's great to know we are adding that kind of firepower to a roster that was really coming together in the fall," Ustundag added.
The 2022 schedule, which features a road assignment at Texas (ranked third in the preseason coaches poll) and a potential match with Arizona State (receiving votes in the poll), was constructed to maximize the team's postseason hopes.
"We don't have as many opponents in the top 10 as we have had in other years, but we wanted to put more focus on a group of teams that can help us get back in the national rankings," Ustundag noted. "It's always great when you can pull off that upset of a top team, but if you instead can pick up several wins against teams inside the top 40 that will help you much more."
The schedule also features three of the four 2021 C-USA semifinalists, including Charlotte and defending conference champion Middle Tennessee at home.
The immediate priority is to usher in the return to dual action for his team and utilize the early portion of the schedule to evaluate the team when facing competition outside of practices.
"I don't know how many of our guys will be fully ready to go by Sunday and I don't totally know what kind of opponent we will see in Denver. We both have some players who have dealt with training interruptions for a variety of reasons.
"I think these matches in January are going to be much more about making sure everyone is getting fully healthy and back into match shape and ready to go for the rest of the season," Ustundag added.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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