Grear Named 2023 Giammalva Award Winner
6/9/2023 11:58:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Team MVP
Rice junior Trinity Grear has been named the winner of the Sammy Giammalva Award as the MVP of the men's tennis team for the 2022-23 season.
After not playing higher than third in the Owls lineup in his first two seasons, Grear was thrust into the top spot in the lineup due to injuries and won three of his last four matches in the regular season at the first line to help Rice return to the national rankings for the first time since 2017.
He clinched Rice's first win over a ranked team since 2017, snapping a 3-3 tie with a 7-0 win in a third-set tiebreak at #68 New Mexico and he came back from a first-set loss to tie the match vs. #34 UTSA as set the stage for the Owls' victory. He bounced back from a 10-8 tiebreak loss in the opening set to defeat Defeated Cal Poly's 77th-ranked Noah Berry for his first career win over a ranked singles opponent. In doubles, he teamed with Wes Barnett to nine of their last 12 decisions (and were leading 5-4 in a 13th match), including wins in their last two matches against ranked opponents, #39 Trey Hilderbrand and Noah Schachter of Texas A&M and #66 Adam Neff and Kyle Sillman of SMU.
The Giammalva Award is named after former men's tennis coach Sam Giammalva (1959-72) who twice led Rice to a second-place finish at the NCAA Championship (1968 & 1970), inaugurated the annual Rice Invitational and spearheaded the construction of the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium, the home of Rice Tennis from 1971-2014.
After not playing higher than third in the Owls lineup in his first two seasons, Grear was thrust into the top spot in the lineup due to injuries and won three of his last four matches in the regular season at the first line to help Rice return to the national rankings for the first time since 2017.
He clinched Rice's first win over a ranked team since 2017, snapping a 3-3 tie with a 7-0 win in a third-set tiebreak at #68 New Mexico and he came back from a first-set loss to tie the match vs. #34 UTSA as set the stage for the Owls' victory. He bounced back from a 10-8 tiebreak loss in the opening set to defeat Defeated Cal Poly's 77th-ranked Noah Berry for his first career win over a ranked singles opponent. In doubles, he teamed with Wes Barnett to nine of their last 12 decisions (and were leading 5-4 in a 13th match), including wins in their last two matches against ranked opponents, #39 Trey Hilderbrand and Noah Schachter of Texas A&M and #66 Adam Neff and Kyle Sillman of SMU.
The Giammalva Award is named after former men's tennis coach Sam Giammalva (1959-72) who twice led Rice to a second-place finish at the NCAA Championship (1968 & 1970), inaugurated the annual Rice Invitational and spearheaded the construction of the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium, the home of Rice Tennis from 1971-2014.
Players Mentioned
/ 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