Rice University’s men’s tennis team lost 4-1 to Tulsa in the American Conference Championship on April 19, ending their hopes of repeating as conference champions.
The match concluded Rice’s season with a record of 15 wins and 8 losses. The Owls, who were top-seeded and ranked No. 49 nationally, faced sixth-seeded Tulsa in the title contest.
Tulsa began by winning the doubles point, marking Rice’s first loss in doubles since March 2 against Baylor. Gus Tettable and Victor Rosetto defeated Tommy Czaplinski and Rafael Botran 6-3, while Timothy Seger and Nikita Volonski beat Yair Sarouk and Kabeer Kapasi 6-4 on court two. On court one, Petro Kuzmenok and Santiago Navarro were leading their match when play was stopped at a score of 5-4.
In singles play, Kapasi leveled the overall score with a decisive win over Ruben Fernandez Ruiz (6-1, 6-1) on court four. However, Tulsa responded by securing three consecutive singles victories: Noey Do fell to Victor Tosetto (6-1, 6-2) on court six; Navarro lost to Seger (6-3, 6-4) on court two; and Kuzmenok forced a tiebreak after rallying from behind but ultimately lost to Volonski (6-3, 7-6).
When play was halted due to Tulsa clinching the championship point, Botran was tied at four games each in the third set of his match after splitting the first two sets. Gabriel Porras trailed his opponent in another unfinished third set.
With this result finalized for the conference tournament, Rice now awaits word on whether it will receive an at-large bid for entry into the NCAA Tournament.
