Men's tennis rolls back Alabama, drops UT match
All good things must come to end, but the men's tennis team did not expect its win streak to come to such a screeching halt. The 29th-ranked Owls could not pull off the upset over fifth-ranked University of Texas (5-0), falling 4-0. Texas' doubles' squads overwhelmed Rice, as the Owls lost all three doubles matches and thus the first point of the overall match. The fifth-ranked doubles team of Ed Corrie and Jean Andersen took out juniors Christian Saravia and Michael Nuesslein, 8-3, and continued to falter for Rice. With Texas' Andersen, Kellen Damico and Vasko Mladenov all scoring quick victories over sophomore Peter Frank, freshman Phillip Seifert and junior Sam Garforth-Bles, respectively, three of the six singles matches went unfinished due to the fact that the Longhorns had already clinched a match victory over Rice. The loss means that Rice will not be advancing to the round of 16 to play in the ITA National Indoor Championships, which will be held in Seattle, Wash. from Feb. 18-21. The loss was the first of the spring season for the Owls, whose record is now 4-1 after starting off well in non-conference play.
Assistant Coach Efe Ustundag (Baker '99) said that, although the score did not reflect the true nature of the match, the Owls committed too many errors and did not take advantage of their chances.
"When you have the chance to close out sets and close out matches, you have to do it and put pressure on the higher-ranked team," Ustundag said.
Even though Ustundag felt that Rice put forth a great effort in Austin, he felt the team could not derive any real satisfaction from its loss.
"In our opinion, there is no such thing as a moral victory," Ustundang said. "We don't go anywhere to play anybody close; the whole point is to beat them."
The weekend was not all lost for Rice, as the Owls soared to a 4-1 victory on Friday against the University of Alabama (1-1). Rice won the doubles point, thanks to Garforth- Bles and Frank winning the third of three doubles matches, 8-5. Garforth-Bles and Frank also recorded singles victories in three and two sets, respectively. Saravia had little trouble with Ian Chadwell, winning 6-4, 6-3, while senior Oscar Podlewski won his sets 6-3, 5-4. Ricky Doverspike was the only Crimson Tide player to take a singles match, dominating over sophomore Harry Fowler 6-3, 6-1.
Ustundag was excited about the Alabama win, but he said the match went on far too long, as again the Owls committed too many mistakes.
"Everyone did what they were supposed to do. Looking back on it, we were the better team on the court, but some of those matches could have been easier as we committed too many unforced errors and we lacked concentration," Ustundag said.
The Owls hope to get back on the winning side this weekend as they travel into Baton Rouge, La. and New Orleans, La. for road matches against Louisiana State University and Tulane University, respectively. Tulane is 3-0 on the season, while LSU comes in with two straight losses, not having yet recorded a win in 2011.
Tulane is only in its second year back in Division 1 tennis, as the program was shut down after Hurricane Katrina hit the university in August 2005. Ustundag felt that Tulane was going to be a harder match this time around than when Rice beat them last year, 4-0.
"I think Tulane will be geared up to play us because we are the defending conference champions and it is a home match (for them), so hopefully it will be a good college atmosphere," Ustundag said.
As for LSU, even though they are 0-2, the Owls are still worried that they will bring their A-game. Podlewski knows that this match is going to be tougher than last year's 6-1 win at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.
"We beat them pretty bad last year, and I don't think they really had a good match, so they are going to be pumped for this weekend's match." Podlewski said. "There will be targets on our heads, as they would love to get revenge for last year's defeat."
For Ustundag, the goals for this weekend are obvious, as he would like to get two wins, but he realizes that his team cannot just go in there and walk away with victories; they will have to earn them.
"I think it is going to be a battle; it always is," Ustundag said. "We are going to give it all and they are going to do the same.
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