Wednesday was a rough day to be a top 20 team on the road as both #13 Ole Miss and #19 Northwestern got upset.
In Houston, Rice picked up its 1st win over a top 20 opponent since 2009 when the Owls stunned Northwestern 4-1. Rice took the doubles and then picked up singles wins from Srikar Alla, Max Andrews and David Warren at 1, 2, and 5. Northwestern’s Logan Staggs won at #4 singles in a losing effort and Konrad Zieba made his season debut at #3 singles for the Cats and led when the match was halted.
Rice recap
“All through the season, we have always stressed the importance of building the energy and putting up a fight no matter the outcome,” Ustundag said. “Tonight you saw that happen over and over as they picked each other up. We started fast and never let up.”
“This was a total team win,” Ustundag said. “I think that perhaps Northwestern was a little flat at the start and we took advantage of that at the start. We played great doubles at one and three to get the point and then went right back out and took four first sets in singles.
“David never let up all night,” Ustundag noted. “Getting off the court quickly and making it 2-0 really kept the pressure on them and you could see the impact that second point going up on the scoreboard had on the other matches.”
“Srikar was the MVP of the match tonight,” Ustundag said. “Right about the time when perhaps some of our early energy was running out, he gave us another boost.”
Northwestern recap
FYI, the number beside the player’s school is the player’s Universal Tennis Rating as of March 25th. For more details about UTR check out their website.
Rice 4, #19 Northwestern 1
3/25/2015 at Houston, Texas (George R. Brown Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Srikar Alla (RICE 13.19) def. #92 Sam Shropshire (NU 13.85) 2-6, 6-1, 6-4
2. Max Andrews (RICE 13.22) def. #102 Strong Kirchheimer (NU 13.74) 6-3, 7-5
3. Konrad Zieba (NU 13.69) vs. Jamie Malik (RICE 12.81) 7-5, 5-5, unfinished
4. Logan Staggs (NU 13.25) def. Adam Gustafsson (RICE 13.06) 6-4, 6-4
5. David Warren (RICE 13.16) def. Fedor Baev (NU 12.95) 6-3, 6-4
6. Gustavo Gonzalez (RICE 11.81) vs. Alp Horoz (NU 12.87) 7-6, 3-6, 2-1, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Max Andrews/David Warren (RICE) def. #69 Sam Shropshire/Alex Pasareanu (NU) 6-4
2. Fedor Baev/Strong Kirchheimer (NU) def. Jamie Malik/Zach Yablon (RICE) 6-2
3. Gustavo Gonzalez/Adam Gustafsson (RICE) def. Konrad Zieba/Alp Horoz (NU) 6-3
Match Notes
Northwestern 12-6; National ranking #19
Rice 8-11
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (5,4,1,2)
T-2:40 A-100
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It took 3 weeks longer than expected but Ole Miss and Mississippi State finally duked it out in the Battle for the Magnolia State. The match was originally scheduled for March 5th but was postponed due to poor weather and State’s indoor facility only having 2 courts.
State got the early momentum by taking the doubles point and then each team won 3 1st sets. Mate Cutura and Rishab Argawal extended the lead to 3-0 with straight sets wins at 3 and 5. Vinod Gowda would get Ole Miss on the board with a 7-5, 6-4 win at #6 over Julian Cash but Ole Miss wasn’t able to break through anywhere else despite having early leads at 2 and 4.
It looked like Florian Lakat was going to clinch it for State when he opened up a 7-6, 3-0 over Nik Scholtz at #1 singles but the Rebel senior would come back and take the 2nd set in a tiebreak to force a 3rd.
Then it looked like William Kallberg was going to close the gap to 3-2 when he led Tassilo Schmid 5-2 in the 3rd at #4 but despite having 3 match points on his 5-3 service game he would get broke and end up losing 5 straight games to drop the match 7-5 in the 3rd which gave State the 4-1 upset win over Ole Miss.
Check out the Mississippi State recap for more in depth details.
Miss State recap
“It’s great for our team, our fans and our program for everyone to see how we compete and the atmosphere we bring out here, MSU coach Matt Roberts said. “It’s really a great day for everyone to see what Mississippi State tennis is all about with this young team.
“It means a lot to me to clinch against Ole Miss in my senior season, Schmid said. “Down 5-3 and a break, I just kept thinking Man, this is not over yet.’ I kept playing and bringing energy for my teammates still on the court and, next thing you know, I had saved three match points and ended up clinching.
“It was unreal today, between the feeling on the court and the crowd in the stands, Schmid said. “It was something very special in my last season of my college career.
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