Rice University
Tulsa
No. 5 Rice Knocks Off No. 4 Tulsa, Advances to Face No. 1 USF
4/18/2025 5:35:00 PM | Men's Tennis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The fifth-seeded Rice Owls men's tennis team earned some revenge against fourth-seeded Tulsa, avenging a loss earlier this season with a 4-1 victory in the American Athletic Conference Championship Quarterfinals on Friday afternoon at the Leftwich Tennis Center. The Owls will advance to play top-seeded South Florida on Saturday.
Tulsa took early leads on all three courts and closed out court three by a score of 6-3 to land the first blow in doubles. However, Rice would begin to flip the script, starting with court two, where a 3-2 Tulsa lead was quickly turned into a 5-3 advantage by Arthus de la Bassetiere and Kabeer Kapasi. The Golden Hurricane would get a point back, but Rice would take the court 6-4 to tie up doubles, both sides needing court one.
The first court was tied a 4-4 when the second court was won, but was 4-1 in favor of Tulsa not long before that. Santiago Navarro and Petro Kuzmenok battled back from 4-1 to tie the court, and again tied it up at 5-5. The tandem would take the final two games to close out court one, winning 7-5 and clinching the doubles point over Tulsa.
In singles play, Tulsa evened the score with a 6-3, 6-2 win at the first court, but Rice would earn three-straight wins to take the match, starting with Navarro's 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 win at the third line to make it 2-1 Owls. Kapasi's win at the sixth line, 6-4, 7-6 (4), would put Rice's lead up to 3-1 with multiple chances to win it. In the end, Emir Sendogan would clinch the win with a 6-4, 7-5, win at the fourth line, earning Rice's first win of the tournament.
Fourth-seeded Rice will return to action on Saturday at 10 a.m., when the Owls take on top-seeded South Florida.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
S. Navarro/P. Kuzmenok (RICE) def. #79 T. Seger/A. Okonkwo (TLSA), 7-5
A. de la Bassetiere/K. Kapasi (RICE) def. L. Miguel/G. Tettamble (TLSA), 6-4
C. Jestin/W. Pellegrini (TLSA) def. E. Morais/T. Czaplinski (RICE), 6-3
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
SINGLES
A. Okonkwo (TLSA) def. A. de la Bassetiere (RICE), 6-3, 6-2
P. Kuzmenok (RICE) vs L. Miguel (TLSA), 2-6, 6-4, 5-5 uf
S. Navarro (RICE) def. T. Seger (TLSA), 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
E. Sendogan (RICE) def. W. Pellegrini (TLSA), 6-4, 7-5
T. Czaplinski (RICE) vs N. Puntaric (TLSA), 6-1, 7-5, 4-3 uf
K. Kapasi (RICE) vs R. Komagata (TLSA), 6-4, 7-6 (4)
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 6, 4
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
1,4,6,3
Players Mentioned
