Men's tennis opens their spring season with two clean sweeps

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by Shay Gilmore

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The Rice men's tennis team kicked off its spring season this past weekend with two clean sweeps. Southwest Texas State University and Lamar University were the Owls' victims this weekend. Neither was able to win a single match against the Owls.

The team seems confident and excited about the upcoming season. "These matches were a good couple of warm-up exercises to prepare us for the tough road to conference play," senior Jon Elsberry said.

The Owls opened up their weekend play with a dual match against Southwest Texas on Saturday.

Rice started on a good note as junior Rico Jacober and freshman Robert Collins walked over Alex Lopez and Graham Thurmond 8-2 in doubles play.

The Owls then sealed the doubles point when Elsberry and fellow senior Shaheen Ladhani defeated Brad Holland and Shawn Koth 8-4.

It was smooth sailing from there on out on Saturday as Rice continued their winning streak in singles play.

In six singles matches, the Owls dropped only one set against Southwest Texas.

Elsberry set the pace with his straight-set victory against Brad Holland, and the rest of the Owls followed suit, refusing to capitulate against the solid serving of Southwest Texas.

Sophomore Naisohn Arfai had trouble getting started in his singles match, but he managed to gut out a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over his opponent to keep the Rice tally sheet spotless.

Assistant Coach Greg Davis said about Southwest Texas, "This team actually beat us 4-3 last year, so I think that the guys had some kind of a revenge factor figuring into their play this weekend."

On Sunday, the Owls had their first ever meeting with Lamar University. Again, Rice jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after sweeping the doubles matches and didn't look back.

In singles play, Elsberry held off Lamar's Mike Ferraro in an exciting 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 match. The rest of the men left their matches with straight- set victories.

"I feel that this match was a great confidence builder for us, to help us work out the nerves of match play," Elsberry said of the Lamar match.

Davis said, "Elsberry played extremely well this past weekend. I'm seeing more of his old top-15 playing ability returning in his game."

This weekend the team will fly to New Mexico where they will play the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University.

New Mexico is currently ranked in the top 15 in the nation, and the Owls are anticipating a good match there.

"I see good things ahead for this team," Davis said. "In fact, I'm sure we'll see a top-50 ranking in the very near future."

The Owls will leave Wednesday afternoon in order to allow for an extra day of practice in the higher altitude.

Upon their return from New Mexico, the team will begin prepping for their match against Northeast Louisiana State University here at Jake Hess on Feb. 24.

"These matches in New Mexico will be more of the caliber that we're used to, and I'm certain that after this past weekend we'll be ready for them," Elsberry said.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the February 16, 1996 issue.

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