DENVER Rices Robert Searle was named the Western Athletic Conference Mens Tennis Player of the Week for the week of April 4. This is his second honor of the spring.
Searle, a junior playing at the No. 1 position, helped Rice get back to its winning ways with singles victories over regional opponents. He posted two straight-set victories at the top singles position. He defeated No. 20 Fabrizio Sestini of TCU 7-5, 6-4 and Juan Pablo Alatorre of Lamar 6-1, 6-2. Searle has now won nine-consecutive singles matches and 15 of his last 16, dating back to Jan. 24, 2005. He is 18-4 overall and 15-1 in dual match action. After a two-week break, Rice returned to the court and promptly won its two matches. The 32nd-ranked Owls defeated No. 37 TCU 4-3, in a match that lasted five hours.
Others nominated: Boise States Thomas Schoeck went 1-1 in doubles with Luke Shields, defeating the No. 1 team from South Alabama but losing to the No. 1 team from Colorado ... Fresno States Jakub Cech upset 76th-ranked Adil Shamasdin 6-4, 6-1 in Fresno States 6-1 loss to Brown. The victory improved Cechs record to 13-8 (10-5 dual)... Tulsas Ricardo Soriano went 3-0 singles last week, defeated Federico Murgier (SMU), 6-1, 7-5, Matt Roberts (Arkansas) in three sets and Jacopo Tezza (TCU), 6-4, 6-4.