No. 24 Rice Men's Tennis Edges No. 17 Miami, 4-3
Jan. 25, 2009
Coral Gables, Fla. – The No. 17 University of Miami men’s tennis team dropped its first dual match of the 2009 season, falling to No. 24 Rice, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center.
With the loss the Hurricanes fall to 1-1, while the Owls remain undefeated at 7-0.
The Hurricanes fell behind 1-0 after dropping the doubles point, despite an 8-4 win at No. 3 by Ignacio Taboada and Carl Sundberg. A hard-fought match at No. 2 ended in favor of Rice, 9-8 (7-4), despite strong play by UM’s Christian Blocker and David Simon.
The Hurricanes won two-straight singles matches to take the 2-1 lead, with straight-sets wins at No. 1 by Sundberg (5-3) and No. 3 by Taboada (13-5) – as both improved to 2-0 in dual match play.
But Rice claimed victories at No. 2 and 6 to reclaim the lead at 3-2, and then went on to clinch the match with its fourth point of the afternoon on a victory at No. 1, handing Miami its first loss of the season.
Keith Crowley outlasted his competition at No. 5, to pick up the third and final point for the Hurricanes with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 win to improve 10-4 overall and 2-0 in dual match play – while earning his first victory of the season versus a ranked opponent.
“It’s definitely hard to lose the doubles point,” said fifth-year head Miami men’s tennis coach Mario Rincon. “We played a really good match at No. 2 doubles anyhow, and then we came back really strong in singles. We had opportunities to win the match – we had the momentum going for a little while there. Regardless, our guys played extremely hard and we are improving. Rice is definitely deserving of its top-25 ranking.”
The Hurricanes travel across the country to compete in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Malibu, Calif., from Jan. 31 through Feb. 1.
No. 24 Rice 4, No. 17 Miami 3
Singles
1. No. 26 Bruno Rosa (Rice) def. Christian Blocker (UM), 6-4, 7-6
2. Christoph Müller (Rice) def. David Simon (UM), 6-1, 6-3
3. Ignacio Taboada (UM) def. Chong Wang (Rice), 6-4, 6-2
4. No. 96 Carl Sundberg (UM) def. Tobias Scheil (Rice), 6-0, 6-3
5. Keith Crowley (UM) def. No. 61 Sam Garforth-Bles (Rice), 6-3, 4-6, 7-6
6. Isamu Tachibana (Rice) def. JC Whitner (UM), 6-3, 7-5
Order of Finish: 4, 3, 6 2, 6, 1*, 5
Doubles
1. Christoph Müller /Tobias Scheil (Rice) def. Keith Crowley/David Rosenfeld (UM), 8-5
2. Bruno Rosa/Chong Wang (Rice) def. Christian Blocker/David Simon (UM), 9-8 (7-4)
3. Ignacio Taboada/Carl Sundberg (UM) def. Sam Gartorth-Bles/Isamu Tachibana (Rice), 8-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2*
