BRUNSTROM, BOUVIER AND BARKERS FALL AT MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP -The remaining WAC athletes all lost at the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship. In singles, Boise State's Guillaume Bouvier and SMU's Johan Brunstrom lost in the round of 16. Rice's doubles team of Richard and William Barker lost in the quarterfinals.
Rice's Barkers concluded their collegiate career with a 6-4, 6-3, loss to Jarmaine Jenkins and Nathan Thompson of Clemson in the quarterfinals of the NCAA doubles championships in Tulsa, Okla.
The Barkers were the top seeded tandem in the championships while Jenkins and Thompson are ranked 37th by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Boise State senior and 55th ranked Guillaume Bouvier lost to fifth ranked Phillip King of Duke 7-5 6-4 in the round of 16 in the NCAA Singles Championship on May 28. Reaching the round of 16 gave Bouvier All-American honors. Bouvier is the first Bronco singles player and the fifth Bronco overall to reach All-American status in tennis.
He advanced to the round of 16 by winning his second tennis match in the NCAA National Singles Championship, defeating 44th ranked William Barker of Rice 6-1, 6-2. To advance to the second round, Bouvier (ranked 55th) defeated Bastian Faisst of Arkansas Little Rock 6-3, 6-3, (ranked 43).
SMU senior Johan Brunstrom saw his stellar 2003-04 season come to an end with a straight set loss to Florida's Hamid Mirzadeh in Sweet 16 action at the NCAA Singles Championship in Tulsa, Okla. The loss ends an incredible 2003-04 season that saw the Sweden native become just the sixth SMU men's tennis player in school history to become a three-time All-American. Brunstrom automatically was named to the 2003-04 All-American team for his Sweet 16 appearance today at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Brunstrom could not contain the 12th ranked player in the nation, Mirzadeh, as the Florida star dropped Brunstrom in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. With the win, Mirzadeh advances to Saturday's Elite Eight match-up against Baylor's Benjamin Becker. Brunstrom defeated Becker earlier in the year on Becker's home court in Waco. Becker was ranked No. 10 in the nation at the time. Earlier in the spring, Brunstrom defeated Becker's teammate, Benedikt Dorsch, who was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time.
EARLY ROUND LOSSES -Tulsa's 61st-ranked Dustin Taylor dropped a two-set match in the second round. The Golden Hurricane's 42nd-ranked doubles tandem of Taylor and Alejandro Tejerina fell in the first round of the Doubles Championships.
In other singles action, both William Barker and Robert Searle suffered straight-set losses during the second round. Searle lost a tight 7-6, 7-5 decision to Izak van der Merwe of Old Dominion, while Barker fell 6-1, 6-2 to Boise State's Guillaume Bouvier.
POSTSEASON AWARDS - Rice head coach Ron Smarr was named the Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association on Wednesday night, while Shaheen Ladhani received national assistant coach of the year kudos and senior William Barker was honored with the ITA/Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award.
Smarr, Ladhani and Barker helped Rice to 17-0 start and program-best number-five ITA ranking earlier this season. Earlier this month Rice won its first conference title in 32 years, as Smarr was selected as the WAC coach of the year for the second consecutive year.
Boise State senior Guillaume Bouvier received the ITA Mountain Regions Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship and Leadership Award for 2003-04. He also received the regions John Van Nostrand Senior Award for aspiring professionals. In the meantime, mens head coach Greg Patton and mens assistant coach Jared Burnham were named Mountain Regional Head Coach of the Year and Mountain Region Assistant Coach of the Year respectively.
Tom Murray and Dustin Taylor received ITA central regional honors. Murray claimed the ITA/Arthur Ashe, Jr. Award for Sportsmanship and Leadership, while Taylor was named the ITA/Farnsworth Senior Player of the Year. Murray chalked up a career 40-19 singles mark and a 29-28 overall doubles record during his three years as a member of the Golden Hurricane men's tennis team. As a senior, he recorded a 20-11 singles mark, tallying the most singles victories for a TU men's tennis player this season, and notched 20 doubles wins. Taylor concluded his collegiate career playing in the singles and doubles Division I Men's Tennis Championships, but dropped his singles and doubles match in the Round of 32.
RICE LOSE TO EVENTUAL CHAMPS BAYLOR IN SWEET 16 - One of Rice's most successful men's tennis seasons in history came to an end on Saturday with a 4-1 loss to Baylor in the round of 16 at the 2004 NCAA championships in Tulsa, Okla.
The 14th-ranked Owls finish the 2004 campaign with a 24-4 record after advancing to the sweet 16 for the first time since the NCAA switched to the current dual-match format in 1977. Under the previous points system, Rice was the national runners-up in 1947, 1968 and 1970.
Baylor went up 3-0 in the team scoring as Benedikt Dorsch, ranked second nationally, downed the Owls' Robert Searle at No. 1 singles and Matias Marin defeated Richard Barker at No. 3, both with the score of 6-0, 6-3. Tony Haerle got Rice on the scoreboard with his 7-6, 6-3 victory over Matija Zgaga at No. 4 singles. At No. 2 singles, William Barker took the early lead against the Bears' Benjamin Becker, ranked 15th, but Becker avoided the upset to record a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 win and secure the team victory.
FRESNO STATE FALLS TO PEPPERDINE IN OPENING ROUND - The Fresno State men's tennis team saw their season come to a close with a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Pepperdine in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Bulldogs wrap up the campaign 13-10 and fell in the first round for the first time since 1998.
The Waves, who also defeated Fresno State in the regular season but by a much closer score of 5-2, began the day by claiming the doubles point with a pair of decisive victories on courts 2 and 3. Pepperdine registered an 8-2 win at the No. 2 position and followed that up with an 8-4 victory at court No. 3.
SMU STOPPED BY BAYLOR IN SECOND ROUND - SMU saw its successful 2003-04 season come to an end on May 15, as the Mustangs fell to No. 2 ranked Baylor, 4-0, in second- round action of the 2004 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship at the Baylor Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. The loss ended a season that saw the Mustangs take home Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors, while making the NCAA Championships for the eighth consecutive season.
In singles play, Baylor took matches at No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 singles to clinch the match and move on to the Sweet 16 round. SMU's Henrik Soderberg fell 6-1, 6-1 to Baylor's No. 15 ranked Benjamin Becker at No. 2 singles to start off singles play. No. 98 Matias Marin followed with a 6-2, 6-3 win over SMU's Gwinyai Chingoka at No. 3. No. 113 Matija Zgaga closed it out for the Bears with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Lukasz Senczyszyn at No. 4 singles, giving Baylor a 4-0 victory.
RICE WINS FIRST WAC TITLE- The host Rice men won their first Western Athletic Conference tennis championship with a 4-1 victory over SMU at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on the university campus in Houston.
The top-seeded and 13th-ranked Owls were led by the strength of Richard and William Barker. The pair form the No. 1 doubles team in the country, with William also ranked 46th in singles.
The Barkers began the day with a tough 8-5 victory over the Mustangs' 29th-ranked tandem of Johan Brunstrom and Henrik Soderberg. The Owls then clinch the doubles point as Tony Haerle and Vuk Rajevac held off Gwinyai Chingoka and Paul McNaughton for an 8-5 win at No. 2.
The Mustangs quickly struck back in singles when Alex Skrypko scored a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Rajevac at No. 5, knotting the team score at 1-1. Haerle answered for the Owls at No. 4 singles with his 6-3, 6-1 decision against the Mustangs' Federico Murgier. Richard Barker put Rice within a single point of the title, with a strong 6-1, 6-2 victory at No. 3. The senior Barker clinched the team title with his win against Chingoka.