Men’s and women’s tennis give new home a workout

BY CHUCK POOL
PHOTOS BY TOMMY LAVERGNE

Men’s and women’s tennis give new home a workout

The Rice men’s tennis team answered the challenge issued by its head coach Friday by jumping on 60th-ranked Cornell from the morning’s first serves and downing the Big Red 4-1 at the George R. Brown Tennis Complex on Sunday.

Rice raced to the doubles point, winning 12 of 14 games at the first two positions, and carried that momentum over in singles to finish the opening weekend with a 1-1 record. Cornell, who defeated the University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA) 4-3 Saturday, fell to 1-1.

After a 4-3 loss to UTSA in the inaugural match at Rice’s new tennis complex Friday, the team got a mandate from head coach Efe Ustundag to return to the courts Sunday with an improved sense of focus.

“I felt like the nerves got to us too much on Friday,” Ustundag said. “The energy that built up since last semester (with the anticipation of opening the new tennis complex) came out differently than we had hoped for. The one thing we lacked at the start (on Friday) was the energy to match UTSA right off the bat. But having that first match out of the way, we came out and focused on the little things, like our energy and intensity. We did a phenomenal job early on two courts. We didn’t play that well at three, but it was a good outing for doubles to really set the tone for the rest of the match.”

The Owls will be back in action at home this weekend when they host a doubleheader against Incarnate Word (noon) and the University of Texas-Arlington (5 p.m.) on Friday and C-USA foe Old Dominion on Sunday.

Lady Owls blank Cards in dual opener

The 21st-ranked Rice women’s tennis team responded to head coach Elizabeth Schmidt’s challenge to use its opening duel of the season to set the tone for the 2015 campaign; the Lady Owls raced to a 7-0 win over Lamar on Saturday.

With a run of six consecutive matches against teams in the top 32 awaiting Rice, Schmidt told her team it was important to bring the proper focus, energy and attitude into the opener against Lamar, and the team responded by closing out the match in just over two hours.

“I thought our team did a great job in those three areas (focus, energy and attitude),” Schmidt said. “They really stepped it up and took care of business.”

Schmidt was quick to thank the fans who came out to celebrate the opening duel.

“This is a very big day for us, and it was great to have so many members of the Rice family here to support us,” she said. “It means the world to the team and our staff, and I can’t thank them enough for their support.”

Rice will take on No. 29 Kentucky in Evanston, Ill., at 2 p.m. Saturday; the winner of that match will face the winner of No. 32 Arizona State and the 17th-ranked host, Northwestern, on Sunday.

“Our returning players know that the Kickoff Weekend is high-quality tennis,” Schmidt said. “Again this year, we are headed into a region where the competition is really stiff, but that is what we want early in the season. Right now our focus is on Kentucky. It’s indoor tennis, so we have some things to work on this week to prepare for playing up there.”