The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Rice
No. 4 Men’s Tennis tops Rice, 5-2
03.12.2019 | Men's Tennis
The Longhorns moved to 15-1 this season and will now face No. 1 Ohio State on Thursday.
Austin, Texas – The No. 4 Texas Men's Tennis team moved to 15-1 this season with a 5-2 win over Rice on Tuesday at the Texas Tennis Center. It was the middle match in a stretch of three in five days that will wrap up against No. 1 Ohio State on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
The Longhorns opened by taking the doubles point. Seniors Colin Markes and Rodrigo Banzer struck first with a 6-2 win at third doubles over Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and Campbell Salmon. Then the No. 13 pair senior Harrison Scott and Christian Sigsgaard bested No. 40 Sumit Sarkar and Eric Rutledge, 6-3, to clinch. Junior Yuya Ito and freshman Chih Chi Huang left their match unfinished at 4-4 with Jacob Eskeland and Daniel Warren.
The teams played out all six singles matches, but Texas needed only three of them to earn the clincher. Markes first downed Adam Oscislawksi in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, at fourth singles for his 15th straight singles win going back to tournament play and his 10th straight in dual matches. After splitting the first two games, Markes rolled of four straight for a 5-1 lead. The set then finished with three straight deuce point games with Markes taking the final one. After dropping the first game of the second set, he made two runs of 3-0 surrounded by one loss in a deuce game to take the match.
No. 9 Ito followed shortly after by posting a 6-2, 6-2 win over Eskeland at second singles. The victory extended his team lead in dual match singles wins to 14 against just one loss. Ito made quick work of the first set after jumping out to a 5-1 lead, however he trailed 2-1 in the second before finishing with four straight games for the win and a 3-0 lead for Texas.
Scott also posted a quick first set in taking his match over Eric Rutledge, 6-1, 7-5, in third singles that clinched for Texas with a 4-0 lead. It looked as though he may repeat his performance in the second set after opening 3-1, but Rutledge rallied to eventually take a 5-4 lead before Scott closed out the set with three straight games. Scott upped his dual match singles record to 10-3, while it was his second win in the third position.
Huang returned to the singles lineup after sitting out the last match against NC State and he returned to his winning ways with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Abdel-Aziz. Huang's dual match record is now 9-3, but he upped his record to 5-0 at fifth singles. After falling behind 2-0 in the first set, Huang answered with four straight games, the last of which he took on a deuce point. Abdel-Aziz countered to tie the match, 4-4 and then 5-5, before Huang secured the final two for the win. The players alternated games to open the second set all the way up to a 4-4 when Huang completed the match with the last two.
Rice was able to take the final two points in close matches. Sarkar captured a second-set tiebreaker over Sigsgaard in first singles for a 6-4, 7-6 (3) win, while Salmon took a first-set tiebreaker over Banzer en route to a 7-6 (2), 7-5 win. Senior Leonardo Telles was given the match off.
No. 4 Texas will next square off with No. 1 Ohio State for the second time this season on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Texas Tennis Center. The Buckeyes represent the Longhorns' lone loss of the season after picking up a 4-0 win in the semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championships in Chicago on Feb. 17.
No. 4 Texas 5, Rice 2
Singles – Order of Finish (4,2,3,5,1,6)
1. Sumit Sarkar (RICE) def. #4 Christian Sigsgaard (UT), 6-4, 7-6 (3)
2. #9 Yuya Ito (UT) def. Jacob Eskeland (RICE), 6-2, 6-2
3. #49 Harrison Scott (UT) def. Eric Rutledge (RICE), 6-1, 7-5
4. Colin Markes (UT) def. Adam Oscislawski (RICE), 6-3, 6-2
5. Chih Chi Huang (UT) def. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz (RICE), 7-5, 6-4
6. Campbell Salmon (RICE) def. Rodrigo Banzer (UT), 7-6 (2), 7-5
Doubles – Order of Finish (3,1)
1. #13 Christian Sigsgaard/Harrison Scott (UT) def. #40 Sumit Sarkar/Eric Rutledge (RICE), 6-3
2. Chih Chi Huang/Yuya Ito (UT) vs. Jacob Eskeland/Daniel Warren (RICE), 4-4, unfinished
3. Colin Markes/Rodrigo Banzer (UT) def. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz/Campbell Salmon (RICE), 6-2
Players Mentioned
