Owls Add Two to Men's Tennis Lineup
8/2/2023 4:41:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Arthus de la Bassetiere and Petro Kuzmenok
Rice men's tennis coach Efe Ustundag announced on Wednesday two additions to the Owls' lineup for their historic first season as members of the American Athletic Conference.
Junior Arthus de la Bassetiere is joining the Rice lineup as a transfer from Gonzaga while incoming freshman Petro Kuzmenok will enroll this fall after a standout junior career in Connecticut.
"I am very excited about adding these two quality student-athletes to our roster this fall," Ustundag said. "We graduated three great seniors last season but Arthus and Petro will be great additions. Arthus is coming from a talented Gonzaga team where he had a lot of success. I expect him to bolster the top half of the lineup. Petro has had a very solid last 12 months is currently ranked near the top of the USTA 18s rankings. With more match play and quality training partners, he should have a very good freshman season."
de la Bassetiere was a two-time All-West Coast Conference honorable mention selection in singles and played at the third and fourth lines in singles and the second line in doubles this past year. He was 12-0 in dual singles as a freshman (11-0 at the fourth line), setting a school record for winning percentage and was a combined 9-7 in singles and 11-5 in doubles.
Kuzmenok was a three-time state CIAC singles champion at Fairfield Warde High School for coach John Harvey and ranked as a five-star recruit by Tennis Recruiting.net. He trained under coach Brian Barker who also trained former Harvard star and World #4 singles player James Blake and has a pair of USTA Level 3 tournament titles to his credit as well back-to-back USTA New England Summer Sectionals championships.
Rice is scheduled to open its 2023 fall tournament schedule on September 8 at the Midland Invitational.
Junior Arthus de la Bassetiere is joining the Rice lineup as a transfer from Gonzaga while incoming freshman Petro Kuzmenok will enroll this fall after a standout junior career in Connecticut.
"I am very excited about adding these two quality student-athletes to our roster this fall," Ustundag said. "We graduated three great seniors last season but Arthus and Petro will be great additions. Arthus is coming from a talented Gonzaga team where he had a lot of success. I expect him to bolster the top half of the lineup. Petro has had a very solid last 12 months is currently ranked near the top of the USTA 18s rankings. With more match play and quality training partners, he should have a very good freshman season."
de la Bassetiere was a two-time All-West Coast Conference honorable mention selection in singles and played at the third and fourth lines in singles and the second line in doubles this past year. He was 12-0 in dual singles as a freshman (11-0 at the fourth line), setting a school record for winning percentage and was a combined 9-7 in singles and 11-5 in doubles.
Kuzmenok was a three-time state CIAC singles champion at Fairfield Warde High School for coach John Harvey and ranked as a five-star recruit by Tennis Recruiting.net. He trained under coach Brian Barker who also trained former Harvard star and World #4 singles player James Blake and has a pair of USTA Level 3 tournament titles to his credit as well back-to-back USTA New England Summer Sectionals championships.
Rice is scheduled to open its 2023 fall tournament schedule on September 8 at the Midland Invitational.
Players Mentioned
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