Men's tennis 9-2 beginning SWC play
The men's tennis team had mixed results at Jake Hess Stadium last weekend.
With a win over Columbia University on Friday and losses to the University of Iowa and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock on Saturday and Sunday, the Owls found satisfaction mixed with disappointment.
"Columbia actually beat us last year, so the win against them this year was a real boon," Assistant Coach Greg Davis said.
Against Columbia, the team got off to a good start, taking a 1-0 lead after capturing all three doubles matches.
The team of senior Shaheen Ladhani and sophomore Efe Ustundag swiped their opponents 8-6 as did the team of freshman Robert Collins and junior Rico Jacober.
In singles action, the play was more intense. Senior Jon Elsberry took his opponent all the way through split sets before finally putting him away 7-5 in the third.
"Jon has really improved his game in the past couple of weeks," Davis said. "Since he's had to play at number one this season, he's really had no easy days, and I think all the challenge has really helped his stamina."
Sophomore Naisohn Arfai had an easier time of it, finishing off his Ivy League adversary in straight sets.
However, the real story of the singles competitions against Columbia was the match between Collins and his opponent, Ogidi Obi, who is currently ranked 24th in the region. Collins stuffed Obi in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
"I was playing quite well," Collins said. "That was a really good win for me, and that was the match upon which I built some self-confidence for the rest of the tournament. I hope that my ranking will benefit from this win."
On Saturday, the Owls received a rather rude awakening courtesy of the University of Iowa.
Rice once again got off to a good start by capturing the doubles point. However, this propitious beginning was stopped short by Iowa's relentless singles command.
Ustundag provided the lone singles point for the Owls with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 win over the Hawkeye's Ryan Johnstone.
Every other Rice man fell in straight sets with Elsberry and Ladhani putting up the biggest fights, each going down 7-5 in the second.
After Iowa captured the fourth signals point, Collins' match was discontinued, and Iowa ended the day with a 4-2 win over Rice.
On Sunday, the Owls faced Arkansas in their final match. For the first time in a while, the men did not manage to capture doubles point.
Although the team of Collins and Jacober managed to pull out a victory, the team of Elsberry and sophomore Darin Mast and the team of Ustundag and Ladhani gave the doubles point to the guys from Little Rock.
Burning it out to the bitter end of three drawn-out sets, Ustundag and Collins pulled out the only singles wins against Little Rock.
Elsberry went all the way to a third set tie-breaker before he lost to his opponent, currently ranked seventh in the region.
Arkansas left with a 5-2 win over Rice and the tournament championship trophy.
With a 9-2 record, the Owls will head into conference play this weekend as they host Texas Tech University on Sunday at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.
"We feel that we're in pretty good shape for conference," Davis said.
This item appeared in the Sports section of the March 22, 1996 issue.
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