April 21, 2007

Results

HOUSTON -- The Rice men, seeded second and ranked 30th, avenged a loss to third-seeded and 48th ranked SMU on Saturday afternoon, winning a 4-3 thriller in the semifinals of the 2007 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.

The Owls return to the C-USA championship match for the second straight year where they will once again face top seed and 21st-ranked Tulsa, a 5-0 winner over UAB in Saturday's first semifinal match. The battle for the 2007 C-USA crown is set for 12 pm on Sunday at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium. The Golden Hurricane defeated the Owls in last year's championship match 4-1, then edged the Rice previously this season 4-3. Both of those matches were held in Tulsa, Okla.

On Saturday, Rice grabbed the early lead with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles to take a 1-0 lead into singles. The Owls' Ralph Knupfer und Tobias Scheil struck first at the top spot, beating Alex Skrypko and Federico Murgier 8-2. Jason Mok and Christoph Müller clinched the point at two, holding off Robin Fahgen and Oivind Alver for an -5 decision, while the final doubles match was suspended.

The action intensified in singles as the teams began trading points. SMU got on the board with a win at two, then Scheil put Rice back on top 2-1 after he swept Murgier 6-4, 6-4. The Mustangs responded again with a victory at the top spot before Müller completed his 7-5, 7-5 win against Alver at the three position. SMU knotted the score at 3-3 with a decision at five singles as all eyes focused on No. 6 singles where the combatants were battling in the third set.

After getting edged in the first set, the Owls' Filip Zivojinovic came back in the second against Adolfo Solares to for the third. Zivojinovic finally grabbed the upper hand in the final frame as Solares served at 4-4. The Owl broke the Mustang's serve to go up 5-4 and serve for the match. After an extended game, Zivojinovic clinch the individual and team victories with his 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 triumph.

Results
#30 Rice 4, #48 SMU 3
Doubles
1. #53 Ralph Knupfer/Tobias Scheil (RICE) def. Alex Skrypko/Federico Murgier (SMU) 8-2
2. Jason Mok/Christoph Müller (RICE) def. Robin Fahgen/Oivind Alver (SMU) 8-5
3. Ben Harknett/Dennis Polyakov (RICE) vs. David Kuczer/Adolfo Solares (SMU) 7-8, unfinished

Singles
1. #79 Alex Skrypko (SMU) def. #36 Ben Harknett (RICE) 7-5, 6-2
2. David Kuczer (SMU) def. #120 Ralph Knupfer (RICE) 6-4, 6-1
3. Christoph Müller (RICE) def. Oivind Alver (SMU) 7-5, 7-5
4. Tobias Scheil (RICE) def. Federico Murgier (SMU) 6-4, 6-4
5. Robin Fahgen (SMU) def. Jason Mok (RICE) 6-3, 6-2
6. Filip Zivojinovic (RICE) def. Adolfo Solares (SMU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4

Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (2,4,1,3,5,6)