Wednesday, March 15
Houston, Texas
11 AM
Rice University
4
vs
2
Texas A&M - Corpus Christi
Photo by: RICE SID
Owls Fight Back to Win Sixth Straight
3/15/2023 5:42:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Navarro clinches fifth time in last six matches
George R. Brown Tennis Center: Rice fought back from a loss in doubles to convert key points in singles and hold off Texas A&M Corpus Christi 4-2 on Wednesday as part of a combined match with the Rice women's team.
Doubles: Rice came into the match with an 11-4 record in doubles and having won the first point in the last six matches. The Islanders jumped out to early advantages at the first and third lines while playing the Owls even at the second position to take the early lead.
Singles: The Owls re-set themselves in singles, taking first sets in five of six singles matches. Emir Sendogan and Kabeer Kapasi combined to only lose five games between them to post quick wins at put Rice in front 2-1, only to see the Islanders answer with a win at the fourth line to tie the match. While Campbell Salmon added a third point for Rice at the fifth line, A&M Corpus Christi forced third sets at the first and fourth lines and took early leads to leave the outcome very much up in the air. While Santiago Navarro moved in front 5-3 at the fourth line, Trinity Great fought back from a 3-0 deficit to tie his match and keep a third point for the Islanders off the board. Navarro was in danger of falling into a 5-5 tie on his serve, trailing 0-40 before rebounding to hold his serve and deliver the clinching point for the fifth time in the last six matches. He and Salmon each won their sixth consecutive singles match.
Efe Ustundag: "You have to give Corpus Christi a lot of credit. They were coming here after dropping a 4-3 conference match indoors and they were looking to bounce back. We've won five in a row and were heading into our first weekend off in quite a while. We've been taking it fairly easy practices just to kind of save our legs, but we knew they were going to come in here fired up and that's exactly what they did. They played better doubles than us just like they did last year when we lost the point. We weren't there physically and mentally enough to take that point. But right away in singles, Emir jumped on his opponent and so did Kabeer. Santiago had a great start, but then our two seniors were down big early. Campbell found his rhythm and won six straight to take his first set. Emir never took his foot off the gas and played a phenomenal match. After hitting a rough patch for a couple of matches, I've been happy with his trajectory in the last couple of matches. after, you know, dropping three in a row. We got up 3-2 and the two guys left on the court (Navarro and Trinity Grear) are the two who have been playing the most consistent tennis lately. Santi is saving points when he needed to and even though Trinity is down 3-0, you also know he's never going to be out of a match. I think when he broke to go up 4-3 in the third, that was a real momentum shift."
Up Next: The Owls will return to competition a week from Friday when the host Cal Poly at 5 p.m.
Doubles: Rice came into the match with an 11-4 record in doubles and having won the first point in the last six matches. The Islanders jumped out to early advantages at the first and third lines while playing the Owls even at the second position to take the early lead.
Singles: The Owls re-set themselves in singles, taking first sets in five of six singles matches. Emir Sendogan and Kabeer Kapasi combined to only lose five games between them to post quick wins at put Rice in front 2-1, only to see the Islanders answer with a win at the fourth line to tie the match. While Campbell Salmon added a third point for Rice at the fifth line, A&M Corpus Christi forced third sets at the first and fourth lines and took early leads to leave the outcome very much up in the air. While Santiago Navarro moved in front 5-3 at the fourth line, Trinity Great fought back from a 3-0 deficit to tie his match and keep a third point for the Islanders off the board. Navarro was in danger of falling into a 5-5 tie on his serve, trailing 0-40 before rebounding to hold his serve and deliver the clinching point for the fifth time in the last six matches. He and Salmon each won their sixth consecutive singles match.
Efe Ustundag: "You have to give Corpus Christi a lot of credit. They were coming here after dropping a 4-3 conference match indoors and they were looking to bounce back. We've won five in a row and were heading into our first weekend off in quite a while. We've been taking it fairly easy practices just to kind of save our legs, but we knew they were going to come in here fired up and that's exactly what they did. They played better doubles than us just like they did last year when we lost the point. We weren't there physically and mentally enough to take that point. But right away in singles, Emir jumped on his opponent and so did Kabeer. Santiago had a great start, but then our two seniors were down big early. Campbell found his rhythm and won six straight to take his first set. Emir never took his foot off the gas and played a phenomenal match. After hitting a rough patch for a couple of matches, I've been happy with his trajectory in the last couple of matches. after, you know, dropping three in a row. We got up 3-2 and the two guys left on the court (Navarro and Trinity Grear) are the two who have been playing the most consistent tennis lately. Santi is saving points when he needed to and even though Trinity is down 3-0, you also know he's never going to be out of a match. I think when he broke to go up 4-3 in the third, that was a real momentum shift."
Up Next: The Owls will return to competition a week from Friday when the host Cal Poly at 5 p.m.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3
#1 Singles Match
1234
Avery Zavala / 0 [AMCC-M]
3640
634UF
#2 Singles Match
12
Pascal Lorieul / 0 [AMCC-M]
10
66
#3 Singles Match
123
Nathan Schwartz / 0 [AMCC-M]
364
626
#4 Singles Match
12
Matthieu Peres / 0 [AMCC-M]
66
44
#5 Singles Match
12
Ulysse Bertrand / 0 [AMCC-M]
44
66
#6 Singles Match
12
Tomas Quesada Perez / 0 [AMCC-M]
22
66
Order of Finish:
2,6,4,5,3
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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