Men's Tennis Scores 4-2 Road Win Over Tulane

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NEW ORLEANS/BATON ROUGE, Louisiana — Men's tennis senior Trinity Grear delivered the clinching point for Rice to defeat Tulane, 4-2, on Saturday. The win is the Owls' first victory over the Green Wave since 2016.

Singles: The two sides began in singles play due to weather concerns. Midway through singles action, however, weather forced the suspension of play and the relocation of the match from the City Park Tennis Center in New Orleans to the LSU Tennis Complex in Baton Rouge.

After play resumed, the Green Wave jumped out first with a victory at the top position. Sophomore Kabeer Kapasi quickly tied the match at the sixth position with a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Junior Emir Sendogan then put Rice ahead, winning at the fourth position, 7-6 (4), 6-3. Despite a Tulane victory at the fifth position, junior Arthus de la Bassetiere kept the Owls ahead with a win at the third position, bouncing back from a first-set tiebreak to score the 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2 win.

Grear was then left as the final singles match in play. After losing the first set, 7-5, Grear bounced back in set two to win, 6-4, and force a decisive third set. After falling behind, 5-0, Grear stormed back to win the next seven games, also fending off a match point in the progress, to win, 7-5, and clinch the match for the Owls.

The win is Rice's first on the road against Tulane since 2011 and snaps a six-match losing skid against the Green Wave. The Owls are now 4-2 on the season.

Head coach Efe Ustundag: "It was a great team win on the road today against a tough opponent. I also want to thank the LSU tennis programs and athletic department for opening their doors to us to finish our match at their facility. We fought up and down the lineup today. The momentum shifted back and forth all day. We won only two first sets but ended up winning four singles matches. Just when we thought it was going to come down to doubles, (Trinity) just locked in and competed with great calmness and poise. Our team captain won seven games in a row in the third set, saving a match point along the way. I am very very proud of the way we competed today. And we also couldn't have done it without the support of the Rice women's tennis team in the stands."

Senior Trinity Grear: "I'm really proud of the guys for how hard we battled. We went on the road to a conference rival, endured rainy conditions, and even dropped four first sets. Yet,we were able to buckle down and get a win with a gritty performance all around. It's a good win, but it's a long weekend ahead, and we're all ready to put our toughness on display again tomorrow against LSU."

Up Next: The Owls remain in Baton Rouge to take on LSU tomorrow at noon at the LSU Tennis Complex. The match will run simultaneously with Rice women's tennis also taking on LSU.

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