Men’s tennis secures win in San Diego

By Luke Samora     3/11/14 5:35pm

During spring break, the Rice University men’s tennis team ventured to La Jolla, Calif. to participate in the Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship. The tournament lasted from Feb. 28 to March 3 and allowed players to enter alongside coaches.

During spring break, the Rice University men’s tennis team ventured to La Jolla, Calif. to participate in the Pacific Coast Men’s Doubles Championship. The tournament lasted from Feb. 28 to March 3 and allowed players to enter alongside coaches. Assistant Coach Bojan Szumanski entered the tournament with sophomore Gustavo Gonzalez. Szumanski and Gonzalez won the tournament, defeating sophomore Mads Engsted and freshman Fillip Bergevi of the University of California, Berkeley’s men’s team. 

The team played in a total of three matches over spring break. In the first two matches, the team lost against St. John’s University 4-3, and the University of San Diego 6-1. Later in the week, the team defeated San Diego State University 4-3. The Owls are scheduled to play a doubleheader this weekend in Beaumont, Texas, where they will square off against Lamar University and the University of Texas, Pan American.

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Freshman Zach Yablon said the excitement of the tournament carried over into the start of the next matches, but that they could not achieve the same success against St. John’s or USD.

“Having one of our own doubles teams win the whole tournament really put us in a good place going into the St. John’s match,” Yablon said. “We just could not keep that hot streak going into the next matches.”

According to Yablon, beating SDSU’s men’s team, which is currently ranked No. 69 in the nation, was key in restoring the team’s morale. 

“Winning against a ranked team like SDSU really ended the weekend on a good note after such disappointing losses to USD and St. John’s,” Yablon said. “It really set us up with a positive outlook that we can look to when we face Lamar and Texas, Pan American.”

Sophomore Adam Gustafsson and freshman Max Andrews sealed the doubles point for the Owls, and sophomores Gustavo Gonzalez and Tommy Bennet went on to win their singles matches.

Coach Ustundag agreed with Yablon’s point concerning the team’s growing confidence. Ustundag said the victory against SDSU allowed the team to rally around each other and recuperate morale.

“It just felt good to get that moment of relief after two tough losses,” Ustundag said. “I was just happy that the team could find something to gather around and renew their confidence in this season.”

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