Rice University
South Florida
Rice Rally Propels Owls to the AAC Championship
4/19/2025 3:19:00 PM | Men's Tennis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The fifth-seeded Rice men's tennis team upset the top-seeded and 23rd-ranked South Florida Bulls in the American Athletic Conference Championship semifinals, punching the team's ticket to the AAC Championship. The Owls will match up with the host Memphis Tigers for the championship.
In doubles action, the Owls struck first on every court to take an early 1-0 lead across all three matches, but the lead would bounce between the Owls and Bulls. USF would claim the first win of doubles with a 6-3 win on court two, leaving the Owls to win both remaining courts to take the point. Petro Kuzmenok and Santiago Navarro would earn a 7-5 win on the first line to tie doubles up, and Tommy Czaplinski and Eduardo Morais would prevail in a marathon-match, earning a 7-6 (9-7) victory to take the doubles point from the top-seeded Bulls.
In singles play, the Bulls tied the match up with a 6-2, 6-3, win at the fourth line, then took a 2-1 lead in the match with a pair of 6-3 set victories at the third line. Czaplinski would tie the match up at 2-2 with a 6-3, 7-6 (3), victory on the fifth line, but the tie would be quickly broken by USF, who clinched a win at the first court by a score of 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Down 3-2, Rice would rally to take care of the Bulls, starting with Kuzmenok's victory at the second line, 6-3, 7-5. Tied at 3-3, attention turned to Kabeer Kapasi and Francisco Llanes on the sixth line, who were in a back-and-forth battle in the third set. The match would get pushed to a tiebreaker, where Kapasi took a 5-0 lead in the seven-point tiebreaker. Llanes fought back with four-straight points, but Kapasi grabbed the final two points to secure the upset and propel Rice to the championship.
Rice will look to win its first American championship on Sunday morning when they take on the second-seeded Memphis Tigers. The match is slated to begin at 10 a.m. and will be live on ESPN+.
RESULTS
DOUBLES
P. Kuzmenok/S. Navarro (RICE) def. H. Car/E. Danesi (USF), 7-5
B. Hudson/F. Llanes (USF) def. A. de la Bassetiere/K. Kapasi (RICE), 6-3
T. Czaplinski/E. Morais (RICE) def. S. Mruzek/E. Cham (USF), 7-6 (7)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
SINGLES
#64 H. Car (USF) def. A. de la Bassetiere (RICE), 7-6 (5), 6-4
P. Kuzmenok (RICE) def. A. Cuellar (USF), 6-3, 7-5
E. Cham (USF) def. S. Navarro (RICE), 6-3, 6-3
G. Verdese (USF) def. E. Sendogan (RICE), 6-2, 6-3
T. Czaplinski (RICE) def. E. Danesi (USF), 6-3, 7-6 (3)
K. Kapasi (RICE) def. F. Llanes (USF), 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
Order of Finish: 4, 3, 5, 1, 2, 6
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
4,3,5,1,2,6
Players Mentioned
