May 11, 2007

WACO -- The Owls' season came to a close on Friday afternoon in Waco where No. 30 Rice fell to No. 35 Texas A&M 4-2 in the opening round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships.

The Owls (15-12) took the early lead by winning a tough doubles point. After the Aggies won at two doubles, Rice's Ben Harknett and Dennis Polyakov struck back at three, beating Brett Joelson and Brad Williams 8-6. The Owls' then clinched the point at one doubles with No. 51 Ralph Knupfer und Tobias Scheil downed Bryan Wooten and Luka Ocvirk 9-7.

Texas A&M rallied back in singles with wins at the top two spots to take the lead. Sophomore Christoph Müller then won his team leading 17th match of the season, and 28th of the year, to even the score at 2-2, sweeping Ocvirk 7-5, 6-3. It wasn't enough though, as the Aggies scored two more wins to clinch the team decision.

Although the team's season is over, Harknett's senior campaign continues on May 23, when the Owl joins the field of 64 vying for the NCAA singles crown.

Results
#35 Texas A&M 4, Rice 2
Doubles
1. #51 Ralph Knupfer/Tobias Scheil (RICE) def. Bryan Wooten/Luka Ocvirk (TAMU) 9-7
2. Matt Bain/Conor Pollock (TAMU) def. Jason Mok/Christoph Müller (RICE) 8-3
3. Ben Harknett/Dennis Polyakov (RICE) def. Brett Joelson/Brad Williams (TAMU) 8-6

Singles
1. #65 Jerry Makowski (TAMU) def. #38 Ben Harknett (RICE) 6-3, 6-2
2. #60 Conor Pollock (TAMU) def. Ralph Knupfer (RICE) 6-3, 6-2
3. Christoph Müller (RICE) def. Luka Ocvirk (TAMU) 7-5, 6-3
4. Brad Williams (TAMU) def. Tobias Scheil (RICE) 6-4, 6-1
5. Matt Bain (TAMU) def. Filip Zivojinovic (RICE) 6-0, 6-3
6. Jason Mok (RICE) vs. John Nallon (TAMU) DNF