Rice University Athletics
Rice Men's Tennis Earns At-Large Berth to NCAA Championship
4/29/2024 6:46:00 PM | Men's Tennis
HOUSTON, Texas — Rice men's tennis will play in the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2017, hearing their name called for an at-large spot to take on 15th-seeded Texas A&M on Friday, May 3, in College Station, Texas. The full 64-team bracket was announced via a selection show on Monday.
"This is a great moment for this team and program," head coach Efe Ustundag said. "It's been a few years but we are finally back where we belong. The grind of the whole season is for this. But now that we are in, we have to get back to business and keep doing what we have done all season: grind and compete. We have a very tough match in front of us playing the Aggies in College Station. We are looking forward to a week of good training and finally putting finals behind us. For the first time this season, we'll get a chance to compete with no school obligations. It will be a much different feel for the guys and I cannot wait for them to play this weekend."
Rice will face Texas A&M in the opening round as the Aggies enter as the tournament's No. 15 seed and will host the first and second rounds at the Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station. Should the Owls advance past Texas A&M, they will face the winner between Baylor and San Diego, who will also face off in a first-round match at College Station. Rice will be seeking their first win in the NCAA Championship since defeating Washington, 4-3, in the opening round in 2010.
The Owl men were ranked 49th in the latest ITA rankings and enter the tournament with a 17-8 record. Rice advanced to the semifinals of the AAC Championships before falling to the AAC's top seed Memphis, 4-3. The Owls defeated Tulsa, 4-1, in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinal round of the conference tournament for the first time since reaching the C-USA semifinals in 2019.
This will be the 13th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championship for Rice men's tennis. The Owls last earned a championship berth in 2017 when Rice fell to Cornell in the opening round, 4-0. This is also the Owls' first at-large berth to the NCAA Championship since 2011. Rice is 6-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, last scoring a victory against Washington in 2010. The Owls have advanced to the second weekend of the tournament once in program history, advancing to the tournament's third round in 2004 with wins over South Alabama and LSU.
The first and second rounds of the 2024 NCAA Championship will take place on Friday and Saturday, May 3-4. The tournament's top-16 seeded teams will serve as hosts for the opening two rounds with a total of four teams playing in a single-elimination format at each host site. The winner from each site will advance to the super regional on May 10-11. The final eight teams will then advance to the quarterfinals where the remainder of the tournament will be hosted by Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
