The Winding Road: Senior Takes Unlikely Path to Become Leader for Owls

For many, the road to Rice is a simple turn off the freeway or a cruise down South Main.

For Yasha Zemel, the road has been slightly more complicated. But those complications have made the destination all that much more rewarding and have molded Zemel into a pivotal leader for the Owls.

Growing up in a small town in northern Israel, Zemel's mother dreamed of her son becoming a professional swimmer. After several years in the pool, however, Yasha's attention drifted to the tennis courts where several friends had already found the sport.

"I just remember that I loved it," Zemel said. "From the first second, I loved that I control my own destiny, but still at the same time, I have an opponent that I see all the time, which I didn't have in swimming and I just loved it. I remember the first time I tried it, my mom couldn't take me out of the court. And since then, it's been amazing."

Zemel outlasted all of the friends who had originally drawn him to the courts, moving on to play in tournaments and preparing for a possible professional career. An opportunity in college tennis, however, was not squarely on the table until outside events made it so.

"I was debating if I should go pro or go to college," Zemel said, "and then COVID happened. I just decided to come here because there were limited opportunities to play pro at the time. I didn't really plan to come and it was very spontaneous. Obviously, I didn't start (at Rice). I got recruited by a volunteer assistant coach at Kentucky, but I knew him from Israel because he used to train with me quite a little bit. We had the same coach. So he contacted me in September and by January, I was in the States already."

With the Wildcats, Zemel posted 30 total wins, including 10-6 and 9-5 marks in singles and doubles play in 2022 when Kentucky advanced to the championship match in the NCAA tournament. Zemel, however, watched from the sidelines for the final two months of the season due to injury, ultimately deciding to enter the transfer portal.

"The connection was that one of my dear friends is the head coach at Kentucky," head coach Efe Ustundag said. "When a program as strong as Kentucky has a player pop up, you know immediately, this guy can play. He's not going to be a random player. So I immediately reached out to (Kentucky head coach) Cedric (Kauffmann). He said he's playing six — he had broken his left hand, so he was out of the lineup — but he had won some critical matches at the National Indoors and things like that. He says, 'I think it would work really well for you. As far as he would come in, possibly play high and I think that's going to be a better situation for him and for you.'"

Convincing Zemel to venture down to Houston, however, was not guaranteed with multiple schools eager to add a talent with experience at a national championship contender. Ustundag even feared that bringing Zemel in for an official visit had nearly backfired due to a less-than-stellar outing for the Owls with Zemel in attendance. Other factors, though, helped sway the decision.

"I felt much more comfortable with coming here," Zemel said. "I don't know, it was kind of like a gut feeling. I had a good experience with Efe and the talks that I had with him at first and I decided to go with it and it's been pretty great. I'm pretty pleased that I did it. I think it was the right choice for me. I came for a visit. It was beautiful. I came and it was senior day for the previous team. It was somewhere around this time two years ago. I loved campus and I really liked it."

With the Kentucky transfer now in tow, the Owls had the makings of an impeccable lineup, including the returns of players like Haoyuan Huang, Trinity Grear and others. Even with the abundance of talent on the roster, Zemel still managed to make his imprint on the team.

"He's coming from a program that's right now ranked top-10, maybe even top five in the country, so he's got experience playing at the highest level of college tennis," Grear said. "Him stepping in and playing at the top of the lineup, it didn't seem like it was a big adjustment. He already had the experience and he was ready to step into a leadership role from the minute he got here, so that was great for the team. His philosophy about the game and his work ethic have really rubbed off well on the rest of the team. The way that he conducts himself in that professional manner, that's so intertwined with the highest level of college tennis that he's experienced in, it's a really positive influence on our team."

Practically before that talent could manifest itself on the court, however, injuries again reared their ugly head. First, Huang was forced to the sidelines. Then, Zemel injured his shoulder during the first weekend of the dual match season. After attempting to play through the injury, the decision was ultimately made to shut it down for the remainder of the season.

"I got to clinch my first match at Rice. I had a really good start and then I had an injury last year," Zemel said. "It was a really nice build-up when I came here. I did really well in the fall adjusting to all the training here and also being successful in the tournaments. Then literally the first weekend, I got injured with my shoulder. At first, we didn't know how bad it was and I kept playing. I just tried to keep playing because I really wanted to be playing for Rice and I tried to do whatever I could to stay as long as I could on the court… I was very proud of the way that the team played that year. I think many people stepped up. Emir stepped up. Trinity stepped up pretty big at the number one spot. It was really nice to see that the team has what it takes to be very successful. And then it just made me more excited to play this season."

Despite being held to the sidelines, Zemel still found ways to make an impact on the team. In several road matches, Zemel stepped in as a third coach for the Owls, offering advice and encouragement whenever necessary.

"I remember Yasha stepped in a couple of away matches that we had and he actually coached a couple of lines," Grear said. "A couple of times when Yasha has been hurt, he's been alongside me as well on my court giving advice. Sometimes I think that for players that are injured, it's really easy to check out and maybe get bored or distance themselves a little bit. It's only natural. But Yasha was always offering his advice and then when he was acting as the coach, he was always very calming and a very wise voice that was really helpful. Even though he was injured and he couldn't necessarily train or push us through his working on the court, he was pushing us through his words and his wisdom."

In addition to providing on-court value even while injured, Zemel also provides off-court leadership. Frequently described by coaches as one of the hardest-working players on the team and in recent Rice history, Zemel is constantly working on his craft — whether it's training on the court or rehabbing in the weight room.

"He got hurt (this year) against Charlotte," Ustundag said. "He finished the match and went through an intense rehab to get himself ready for Arkansas, where he was about to win his match when the match got clinched. That's the guy you're seeing: somebody who's really devoted to his own process. One of the things that was also as amazing about Yasha is that, regardless of the outcome of his match, within 30 seconds he is loud and cheering his teammates… He was the loudest one all of last year when he didn't play. He was a cheerleader. He took on that role. I'm sure he was upset he wasn't out there performing but he never took anything for granted. He was out there being a really, really good teammate. Having gone through that and what he's been able to do on the court this year, it's very satisfying."

That determination has led Zemel to the, statistically speaking, best season of his career so far, anchoring the Owls' lineups at the first position in both singles and doubles play. Playing alongside sophomore Kabeer Kapasi, the duo has posted a 7-2 record in doubles this season after going 6-0 last year prior to Zemel's injury. The success offers the pair a chance to celebrate… occasionally.

"I've been rooming with him quite a bit just because we're doubles partners, so that's always been fun," Kapasi said. "In California, we had a couple of good wins and we were pretty tired the day after the match, but there was a gas station nearby. We were thinking if we maybe go get some candy, like a little celebration. He took the lead on that one and said, 'We had a good week, we can celebrate a little bit.' I think I went with some Skittles, just classic. I think he got some sour gummy worms. That's his go-to: sour gummy worms."

Part of Zemel's professionalism is due to just that: Zemel's dreams for becoming a professional tennis player following his career at Rice, whenever that may be. Due to missed time from injuries, Zemel is hoping for a possible waiver from the NCAA for a medical redshirt, allowing him one more season on South Main. With or without that additional season, however, Zemel already maintains many of the practices necessary to be successful on the pro circuit.

"He's always made it clear that he's got aspirations to play professional tennis," Grear said. "That's a big thing when you have a goal like that, everything that you do — like we say he's professional, but if you want to be a professional, you're going to have to conduct yourself in a professional way and that's exactly what he does… It makes a difference and you can tell with him and everything that he does because he really does give 100 percent and he conducts himself very professionally."

Grear and Zemel have combined to showcase that level of professionalism needed to win at the highest levels of tennis as the two have played all but two of an available 46 matches at the top two spots in the singles lineup this season. The duo are also mainstays in the top two positions in doubles. That consistency has proven invaluable with both Zemel and Grear serving as team captains this season.

"We both work together as we see it as a responsibility that we take on to lead the team," Grear said, "and to help the rest of the team and lead by example. Us being next to each other, having him next to me, he's always very, very focused. He's not the most vocal player, but I think that focus that he shows and that professionalism that he shows, it helps me to understand the responsibility that we're playing with when we're playing at the top of the lineup. It's a good reminder to be playing next to him so frequently."

The combination of professionalism, experience and talent at the top of the lineup has helped the team gel throughout the roster. Even with several more years under his belt, a result of a mandatory stint in the army prior to his college career, Zemel relishes the opportunity to be part of the team.

"We have a really good bond with everybody and it's pretty fun," Zemel said. "It's also always fun to be around younger people with like a younger spirit. I really enjoy it. It was different for my freshman years where I had a different role. This year as a captain, it's like me and Trinity, we're the serious guys, and it's also fun to experience that. Honestly, college is an amazing thing. You get to do what you love for four years with amazing conditions around you and people who share the same goals as you have. If I could give myself advice for me as a freshman, I would say be more conscious about it and then just enjoy it. Because it goes pretty quick."

Zemel has (at least) one more opportunity to add his college career as the Owls await their opponent in the quarterfinals of the program's first AAC tournament. Rice will face the winner of Tulsa and Wichita State on Friday, April 19, at 2 p.m. For Zemel, a win at the top of the lineup would serve as continuing proof that the journey from Israel to Houston, though winding, has been worth it. The senior, however, is probably more concerned with how a win could help extend the Owls' season.

"For sure he's focused on his results; he wants to win," Kapasi said. "But to me, it seems like he wants to win for the team. Like if he wins and we lose a match, he's still a little bit down. He wants the team to succeed and maybe if we win a match but he lost his match, he's still very happy. He's always trying to improve to benefit the team, not just for himself. He's definitely a really strong team player."

The rest of the team is quick to make sure that despite Zemel's standing as a team captain and a pivotal player at the top of the lineup, it doesn't get to his head. Funnily enough, those situations frequently arise when looking for food on the road.

"Because I'm vegetarian," Zemel said, "nobody listens to any recommendations that I have. If I want to go somewhere, then the team knows they've got to go the opposite way. That's kind of the joke on the team. Every time I say something is good, they're not going to take it. But I think when we're on the road, we just eat whatever we need to be prepared for the matches."

As always with Yasha, like a true professional, the conversation always seems to return to the match at hand and being ready for it.

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