May 1, 2007

HOUSTON -- The No. 30 Rice men earned their fifth-straight NCAA team championship bid on Tuesday, receiving a May 11 date with No. 35 Texas A&M in Waco, while the Owls also had three named to the all-Conference USA singles first team and a doubles team honored.

This is the Owls' sixth bid in the past seven years. The winner of the Rice-Texas A&M match will face either No. 4 Baylor or Oral Roberts for a shot at the round of 16 at the NCAA national tournament hosted by the University of Georgia, May 17-22. Match times in Waco have yet to be determined.

Senior Ben Harknett, junior Ralph Knupfer and sophomore Christoph Müller were all named to the C-USA all-conference first team for singles, while Knupfer teamed with sophomore Tobias Scheil for a spot on the doubles team. This is Knupfer's second year on the C-USA first team, while Harknett was on the second team last year and was also an all-Western Athletic Conference singles honoree in 2005.

The Owls are 15-11 this year after advancing to the Conference USA championship match for the second-straight year. Harknett leads Rice at the top of the line up with his No. 38 Fila/ITA national singles ranking. Müller has posted a team-best 16-4 singles record in duals, going 5-2 at three and 6-2 at four. Knupfer has a 12-7 record this spring, splitting time at the two and three positions. In doubles, Knupfer and Scheil are ranked No. 51 with their 11-8 record at the top spot.

The Aggies are 14-11 in 2007 and are led by No. 65 Jerry Makowski and No. 68 Conor Pollock. Makowski is 8-11, playing exclusively at one singles, while Pollock has a team-high 16-6 mark, primarily at two.

Bids for the NCAA singles and doubles championship will be announced on Wednesday.