Women expect to contend for crown
by ERIC RAUB
THRESHER STAFF
carter brooking/thresher
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Freshman Jerilynn Gonzales, who has shined at the No. 5 singles spot this year, and the women's tennis team have high hopes for this weekends's Western Athletic Conference Championships.
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If you were looking for a women's tennis player this past week, the two best places to search were the library and the tennis courts.
When the Owls haven't been hitting the books - which isn't very often - they've been hitting the courts in preparation for the biggest event of the season: this weekend's Western Athletic Conference Tournament in Fort Worth.
Despite the academic pressures that come with the final two weeks of classes, the Owls feel good heading into the tournament that has been circled on their calendars since the beginning of the year.
"We're doing pretty well," head coach Paul Blankenship said. "We've got a tremendous amount of academic work going on right now."
But they have been able to maintain their focus on tennis at the same time. With the knowledge that they have a good shot at surviving at least the first round of the WAC Tournament - and possibly making a more significant run - the Owls are champing at the bit to get the tourney started.
"They're tremendously eager," Blankenship said. "It's been a trait of this group all along. They're remarkably sharp."
One of the main reasons Rice is so confident heading into the tournament is that its first round opponent will be Southern Methodist University. The Owls, ranked No. 61 in the country, beat the 68th-ranked Mustangs 6-3 April 9.
Should Rice beat SMU, the road to the WAC Championship would only get harder with a likely second-round matchup against the University of Tulsa, ranked No. 26. The Golden Hurricane beat Rice 6-3 Feb. 13, but the Owls think they're a much different team now than they were two and a half months ago.
"That's fine. You're going to have to beat them sooner or later, might as well be sooner," Blankenship said. "They're good - we have a lot of respect for them - but I think when we played them we weren't hitting on all our cylinders."
Tulsa has been somewhat of a surprise this season, rising from an initial ranking of No. 60 to being on the cusp of the Top 25. But while the Owls have just recently re-entered the national rankings, they believe the matchup would be a good one.
"We played them at the beginning of the season [and] we weren't really at the level we're at now," freshman Jerilynn Gonzales said. "We've improved and I'm sure Tulsa has improved."
The conference gets no easier after Tulsa, with 24th-ranked Texas Christian University and its home court advantage and 38th-ranked Fresno State University.
But the Owls know that if a couple of things go their way and they can build some momentum, they could be primed for a long tourney run.
"If we could pull it off [and beat Tulsa], it would give us a lot of confidence," Blankenship said. "You get on a roll, and you can win the tournament. I've seen it happen before."
But while it's exciting to imagine how much this team can accomplish, Blankenship said for now, Rice is concerned only with SMU.
"We're taking it one match at a time," Blankenship said. "We're certainly not thinking a whole lot about [Tulsa]. We're thinking about SMU."
In addition to having one win over the Mustangs already under their belts, the Owls can take comfort in the knowledge that they are very close to finally having a completely healthy team.
Senior Charlotte Feasby has been playing very well since returning from a knee injury that kept her out of action for a month. Feasby's doubles partner, sophomore Erin Waters, has been bothered by an Achilles' tendon injury and has been taking it easy in practice. She is expected to play in the tournament.
"Erin hasn't been able to work out," Blankenship said. "Hopefully, she hasn't lost much conditioning."
Something to watch will be the way Rice fares at the bottom of its lineup, namely at the No. 5 and 6 singles spots and the No. 3 doubles spot. The Owls are 18-7 in the fifth and sixth singles positions when they are occupied by Gonzales and sophomore Natalie Briaud, and the pair has gone 7-3 at the third doubles spot.
They are equally strong at the top, with senior Elle Lewis and Feasby representing a strong one-two punch at the top of the lineup. The two shocked TCU two weeks ago by taking upsets over the No. 46 and 63 singles players in the country at the top two singles spots.
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Coming off disappointing campaign, men view bracket more realistically
by ERIC RAUB
THRESHER STAFF
courtesy rice sid
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Robert Collins
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Forgive the men's tennis team for going into this weekend's Western Athletic Conference Tournament a little less than optimistic. It's just that with the way this disappointing season has gone, the Owls are much more inclined to look at things realistically.
Rice enters this weekend's tournament at Fort Worth at 15-12 and in fifth place in the six-team WAC. The Owls, who will face the University of Tulsa in the first round, are not expecting to storm through the bracket with a flurry of miracles.
But they do enter the matchup with the Golden Hurricane knowing they have nothing to lose.
"That's pretty much the situation," senior Robert Collins said. "Conference tournament, now or never. We're just looking forward to it at the moment. I wouldn't put money on us, but whatever happens, happens."
It's no secret that the odds are heavily stacked against the Owls. Collins, the team's No. 1 singles player and a member of Rice's top doubles team, was forced to miss some practice time this week with chronic patellar tendinitis.
His status for this weekend is still undetermined.
"At the moment I'm expecting to play," Collins said. "I wouldn't bank on me playing, but I'm definitely traveling [to Fort Worth]."
With the possibility of Collins being out of action, or at least at less than 100 percent, the Owls will have to be creative in the formation of their three doubles teams and with the order of their singles lineup.
An additional challenge will be the fact that the Owls have the misfortune of playing in a brutal league, with three teams ranked in the top 15 in the country, led by Fresno State University (22-3) at No. 11.
Southern Methodist University (19-4) is ranked 13th and boasts the No. 17 singles player in Toby Hannson, while No. 14 Texas Christian University has the No. 7 singles player in the nation, Esteban Carril.
But the good news for the Owls is that they don't have to worry about facing one of the three juggernauts just yet. Instead, they draw 55th-ranked Tulsa, a team they lost to 5-2 on April 15 in a match the Owls felt they should've won.
"We could've beaten them here," head coach Ron Smarr said. "We had three three-set matches [and] many of the matches we were ahead in. It's a match we're really looking forward to."
But should the Owls get their revenge against the Golden Hurricane, they admit that they're not too hopeful about their chances in the second round and beyond.
"It's the only one we're looking at, really," Smarr said. "It's a tough league. Even though there's only six teams in it, it's very tough."
But the Owls may be selling themselves short. They were thoroughly trounced by SMU and TCU, but they've been playing well recently.
Freshman Matthias Mathaes has proven to be as talented as the Owls expected at the top of the lineup, and sophomore Prakash Venkataraman continues to play well after returning from an ankle injury.
Additionally, the team's 15-12 record hides the fact that many of the losses were close and may have even gone the other way had it not been for injuries and inconsistency.
"We lost 12 this year," Smarr said. "Of the 12 we lost, though, we could've won four or five of them, even with the injuries."
A first-round win over Tulsa would give Rice momentum heading into the second round, where the Owls could give one of the powerhouse teams a run for its money.
Realistically, however, the Owls say they expect little in the form of miracles from a season that has provided few.
At the same time, they also realize they won't be facing Andre Agassi or Pete Sampras but college level players like themselves.
"They're not any better than we are," Venkataraman said. "If they were, they would be out playing on the circuit."
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