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The Rice Thresher
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by Eric Raub thresher staff
Monday's match was the most exciting, hardest-fought and closest the Owls have played this season. The Tarheels spent most of the early part of the season ranked 26th, so the Owls knew they were facing a talented opponent. The Tarheels took the early lead by winning the No. 2 and 3 doubles matches to claim the doubles point. Then, freshman William Barker and junior Alexis Pourchet were beaten in straight sets to leave the Tarheels only one point short of the win. Junior Fabien Giraud kept hope alive for the Owls by winning 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 6 spot. That meant that all three Owls left on the court had to win their matches to clinch the victory, and all three had lost their first sets. "The guys were not quite ready to play the match," assistant coach Shaheen Ladhani said. "We had just got back from a long spring break trip and were getting ready to leave for another trip. Concentration was hard to maintain with all the things going on. That is why we lost the doubles. They dug themselves out of a hole halfway through the singles matches." Junior Matthias Mathaes and freshman Richard Barker both successfully came from behind to win, leaving the contest on the shoulders of sophomore Cody Jackson at the No. 5 spot. Jackson fought off a match point in the second set, won the second-set tiebreaker and went on to capture a 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory. "Yesterday was an amazing comeback," Ladhani said. "Gutsy performances from all the singles players that won. Cody and Matthias both saved match points and came back to win. You have to win some close matches like that. Not all the wins against good teams are going to be easy." Jackson's victory came at a cost to the Owls. He was taken to the hospital later in the day and treated for dehydration and heat stroke. "I had a heat stroke and had to go to the hospital," Jackson said. "They took me in at about 8:30 and I didn't get back until about 1:30 in the morning. It was really bad. I was playing with stomach cramps and I was just glad I was able to play it through." The win followed a 5-2 win over No. 60 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University March 6 and a 4-3 win over the University of San Diego March 8. The Owls faced Virginia Tech without William Barker, who was held out due to illness. They fell behind early after losing the doubles point, but came back to win five of the six singles matches. In Rice's win over No. 50 San Diego, the Owls won just 4-3, but they had already jumped out to a 4-1 lead and clinched the match before dropping two singles matches that didn't affect the ultimate result. This weekend, the Owls' unbeaten record meets its toughest challenge yet. The Owls began play yesterday in the Blue-Grey Championship in Montgomery, Ala. Depending on how they perform in the earlier matches against teams like No. 58 Boise State University, the Owls could end up playing any number of highly ranked opponents, including No. 20 University of Miami, No. 26 University of Notre Dame and Western Athletic Conference foes No. 9 Southern Methodist University and No. 23 Fresno State University. "I'm pretty sure we will do well," Mathaes said. "Maybe we'll come back with four wins - that would be the best. We have to play three or four matches in four days, but I think we have a chance." Undefeated and healthy for the most part, the Owls point out that they have nothing to lose in the tournament against high-caliber teams. Up to this point, the Owls have found a way to pull out every win, and they think they might be able to do the same against some of the best teams in the country. "I think we have a chance to do well," Jackson said. "We really have nothing to lose so we're just going to go after it."
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