Rice University
LSU
Rice Soars, Knocks Off LSU on Friday Night
2/7/2025 8:20:00 PM | Men's Tennis
HOUSTON - Rice broke a three-match losing skid with a statement victory over the LSU Tigers on Friday night at the George R. Brown Tennis Center. The win brings Rice to 4-3 on the year, while LSU drops to 6-3.
Action began with doubles play, where Rice's tandem of Eduardo Morais and Yair Sarouk were able to take the first step in learning Rice's first point of the night, winning court three by a score of 6-2. 50th-ranked Arthus de la Bassetiere and Kabeer Kapasi battled 41st-ranked Aleksi Lofman and Julien Penzlin, but fell 4-6 to make court two a winner-take-all for the doubles point. At 6-6, a tiebreaker was needed, where Santiago Navarro and Petro Kuzmenok were able to will Rice to a 7-6 (7-5) victory and sent the George R. Brown Tennis Center into a frenzy, taking an important 1-0 lead over the visiting Tigers heading into singles play.
In singles, the energized Owls came out to make a statement, starting with Tommy Czaplinski's 6-2, 6-2 victory at the sixth line. Just a moment later, Navarro earned his second victory of the day with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at the third line to put the Owls up 3-0 over the Tigers.
Kuzmenok, who was on the first line for the first time this season, won his first set handily by a score of 6-1. In the second set, he found himself down 1-4, and against at 2-5, but dug deep and battled back. When the match was tied at 5-5, and the game at 40-40, Kuzmenok watched a return sail over his head to secure the 6-5 lead. From there, Kuzmenok won four-straight games to clinch the victory at court one, and the match at 4-0 over LSU.
Singles continued afterwards, with LSU winning the three remaining sets. The Bayou Bengals first clinched the fifth court with a 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3) victory over Kapasi in a third set super tiebreaker. Next, court two saw de la Bassetiere fall in a competitive three set match at 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. To round out the night, Emir Sendogan was outlasted 7-6, 7-6 (1) at the fourth line.
Rice will return to action on February 14 for a match against Lamar at the George R. Brown Tennis Center. Action is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
#41 Lofman/Penzlin (LSU) def. #50 de la Bassetiere/Kapasi (RICE), 6-4
Navarro/Kuzmenok (RICE) def. Vasquez/Kohlmann (LSU), 7-6 (5)
Morais/Sarouk (RICE) def. Markovic/Loncarevic (LSU), 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES
Kuzmenok (RICE) def. #124 Lofman (LSU), 6-1, 7-5
Markovic (LSU) def. de la Bassetiere (RICE), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Navarro (RICE) def. Vasquez (LSU), 6-3, 6-3
Sendogan (RICE) vs. #116 Penzlin (LSU), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (1)
Loncarevic (LSU) def. Kapasi (RICE), 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3)
Czaplinski (RICE) def.. Kohlmann (LSU), 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 6, 3, 1, 5, 2, 4
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
6,3,1,5,2,4
Players Mentioned
