ATHLETE OF THE WEEK - Rices Robert Searle has been named the Western Athletic Conference mens tennis Player of the Week. This is Searles first Player of the Week honor this season.
Searle, a sophomore from Orpington, England, secured the doubles point for Rice with partner Ben Harknett with an 8-3 victory at No. 3 doubles. Searle then upped the Owls lead to 2-0 with a commanding 6-0, 6-2 win against Pete Stroer at No. 2 singles. After losing three in a row, Rice got back to its winning ways, defeating 28th-ranked Texas, 6-1, to move to 18-3 on the season.
OTHERS NOMINATED Alex Krohn, Fresno State
NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE
Boise State - Boise State defeated the University of Pacific, 4-3, Monday night in the Appleton Tennis Center in a match that had three of six singles matches go into third sets. In singles, Pacific attempted to come back and win four for the win but the Broncos managed the stop at three. Pacific's Lennert Maack defeated Schoeck, 6-3 6-4 at number one. The Tigers' Arnar Sigurdsson defeated Mahmoud Rezk at two, 6-7 6-2 6-4. Boise State won the next two positions with Matias Silva defeating Michael Duong at three, 6-3, 6-3 and Nils Klemann defeating Vladimir Zdravkovic at four, 6-4 3-6 7-5. Pacific won at five with Niclas Otte defeating James Ludlow, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. And Boise State's Ehren Vaughan won at six, defeating Alan Kelly, 6-2, 6-0.
Fresno State - The Bulldogs dropped two matches on the road last week, losing to UC Santa Barbara 4-3 and No. 20 Pepperdine 5-2. Stefan Suta was one of the lone bright spots in the losses for Fresno State. The senior went 2-0 and knocked off 45th-ranked Calle Hansen of Pepperdine 7-6 (3), 7-5. Fresno State has extensive history against both of this week's opponents. On Saturday, the Bulldogs host UC Irvine, a team that holds a 9-5 advantage in the all-time series. The following day, Fresno State plays Pacific for the 16th time ever. The Bulldogs are a perfect 15-0 in history against the Tigers.
Hawaii - Hawaii concludes its 2004 home schedule against inner-city rival Hawai'i Pacific, Friday, April 16. The Rainbow Warriors are coming off Monday's 5-2 loss to Azusa Pacific, the NAIA's top-ranked team. The setback snapped a modest two-match win streak and dropped UH to 8-13. HPU is the top-ranked team in Division II with a perfect 20-0 record. Last season, the Sea Warriors won both match-ups against Hawai'i and owns a four-match winning streak over its in-state rival. Leading the Rainbow Warriors is junior Dalibor Ptak, who regained his spot at the No. 1 court against Azusa Pacific. Ptak has won his last three matches and four of five since suffering a four-match losing streak in late March. Sophomore Ryan Sceats leads the team with 14 singles victories. Following the HPU match, the Warriors take the next two weeks off before heading to Houston, Texas, site of the 2004 WAC Championships.
Nevada - Nevada nearly came back after losing the doubles point dropping a, 4-3, loss to UC Daivs on April 10, at Caughlin Ranch in its second home match of the weekend. With the loss, Nevada drops to 9-11 on the year.
With the win the Aggies improve to 8-8 on the season and avenge a 6-3 loss to Nevada earlier this season in Davis back on February 28. The Wolf Pack is now 2-1 at home this season, having broken a five-win streak. Nevada captured three singles as Adam Jooste defeated Fitch, 6-3, 6-3, at No.1 and Milos Popovic defeated Chin, 6-4, 0-6, 6-2, at No.3. Brandon Sieh posted a straight-set win over Blake Roberts with a 7-5, 6-3 victory at No.5.
Rice - The 12th-ranked Rice men returned to their winning ways on Saturday with a 6-1 victory against 28th-ranked Texas in their final regular season home match. Robert Searle quickly struck again for Rice, defeating Pete Stroer 6-0, 6-2 at number two singles to put the Owls ahead 2-0. Vuk Rajevac followed with a 6-2, 6-4 decision at the No. 5 spot. Rice clinched the match at number three singles, where Richard Barker swept Joe Morris 6-4, 6-3. Ben Harknett mounted a huge rally after being down 5-1 in the second set to Andy Mack to win 6-4, 7-5 at No. 6 for Rice. Tony Haerle recorded the Owls' final point of the day with his 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 win against Ryan Haymond at No. 4.
SMU - SMU won three clutch matches in singles play to down No. 12 TCU at Haggar Tennis Stadium, 4-3. The SMU win gives the Mustangs an all-time series advantage over TCU at 25-23. In singles, the No. 12 ranked Horned Frogs stormed back, winning matches at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 singles. SMU's freshman Alex Skrypko won at No. 6 singles 6-4, 7-5. Sophomore Peter Oredsson won a huge match for the Mustangs at No. 5 singles with a 6-1, 7-5 win. With the match tied at 3-3, SMU's hope sat square on the shoulders of No. 1 singles player Johan Brunstrom. After dropping the first set 6-3 to the nation's No. 39 ranked player, TCU's Alex Menichini, Brunstrom bounced back with a 7-6 win in set two. The only match left going into set three, Brunstrom won the third set 6-4 as the Mustangs picked up their 14th win of the year.
Tulsa - The 57th-ranked Golden Hurricane will take a week off before hosting 29th-ranked Oklahoma State on Wednesday, April 21st, beginning at 6:00 p.m. at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center. Dustin Taylor, Alejandro Tejerina andthe 36th-ranked doubles tandem of Taylor and Tejerina will lead Tulsa at home. The Golden Hurricane owns a 10-6 home mark this season and will face its 13th top-30 opponent in the Cowboys. OSU, 13-3, will post tough competition in the likes of 25th-ranked Mark van Elden and 110th-ranked Tomas Bohunicky.
In the last meeting, the Cowboys came away with a 4-3 victory on April 18, 2003.
ITA RANKINGS - Rice is the highest ranked WAC team in the most recent ITA rankings. The Owls have fallen to No. 12. This week, SMU is No. 31, while Boise State fell to No. 39. Rounding out the top 60 is Fresno State at No. 46 and Tulsa and No. 57. The Rice twin duo of Richard and William Barker are currently ranked No. 6 after starting the season ranked No. 1.
NATIONAL TEAM INDOORS - Tulsa and Boise State played at the ITA/USTA National Team Indoor Championship in Seattle, Wash. This was Tulsas first trip to the national indoor tournament. Both schools went 0-3 at the prestigious tournament. Defending NCAA Champion, Illinois, repeated as ITA/USTA National Team Indoor Champions. Tulsa lost to Illinois in the first round, 4-0.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN HOUSTON - This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will be held in Houston, Texas at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on the campus of Rice University, April 30-May 2. The 2003 champion, Boise State, will look to defend its title.