RiceOwls.com Blog :: 2008 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship

NCAA Men's Tennis

Reyes Varela took control of the tiebireaker with his kick serve and volleying to take the tiebreaker 10-8 and give Texas a 4-0 victory.

When play was stopped, Rice was tied or ahead on the three remaining courts in tight third sets.

We thank you for following our live blog over the last two days.

4:19 p.m. CT (Saturday)
6-6 and Switching Sides
Reyes Varela fires back from a 6-3 deficit with a pair of passing shots to even the score at 6-6. The players are switching sides once again.

4:17 p.m. CT (Saturday)
5-3 Polyakov!


4:15 p.m. CT (Saturday)
Polyakov Fires Back

Polyakov responds with three quick points to draw even at 3-3 in the breaker at the change-over.

4:12 p.m. CT (Saturday)
Early Lead for Reyes Varela

Reyes Varela is up 3-0 early in the breaker behind a pair of strong serves and a forehand winner.

4:10 p.m. CT (Saturday)
It's Tiebreak Time at No. 6

After a pair of holds, Dennis Polyakov and Miguel Reyes Varela are heading to a second set breaker. Polyakov must win to keep the Owls alive. First one to seven points wins.

4:04 p.m. CT (Saturday)
Bruno Baby

Rice's Bruno Rosa just broke serve to grab a 4-2 lead in the final set. Texas got a hold from Miguel Reyes Varela against Dennis Polyakov to draw even at 5-5 in the second set of the No. 6 match.

4:00 p.m. CT (Saturday)
Pushed to the Brink But Still Fighting

Texas' Ed Corrie and Milan Mihailovic won in straight sets to give a Longhorns a 3-0 advantage.

However, Christoph Muller and Chong Wang pushed their matches to a third set. Dennis Polyakov is looking to do the same with a 5-4 lead. Bruno Rosa has refound his grove with a 3-2 edge in the third set of his match.

We'll see what unfolds.

3:12 p.m. CT (Saturday)
A Long Road Ahead

Rice's Bruno Rosa took his opening set with ease 6-2 against Dimitar Kutrovsky, However, Kutrovsky has gone up 3-0 to start the second set. In the No. 2 match, the Owls' Christoph Muller just broke to draw even at 5-5 in the opening set against Kellen Damico. Fellow German Ralph Knupfer needs to find that same magic down 5-4 and a break against Ed Corrie at No. 3 position. Texas has claimed the first sets in the No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 matches.

2:06 p.m. CT (Saturday)
Longhorns Hold On to Take Doubles

Texas' Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala held off Rice's Bruno Rosa and Filip Zivojinovic 8-5 in the No. 3 match to secure the doubles point for the Longhorns.

On court one, Rice's Christoph Muller and Ralph Knupfer had a break opportunity at 5-5 against Ed Corrie and Kellen Damico when play was stopped.

Singles action is slated for 2:20pm and the Owls need to win four of the six matches to advance. The clouds started to go away as doubles begin and we're back to familiar conditions: hot, humid and sticky.

1:57 p.m. CT (Saturday)
Need Lightning to Strike Twice

Rice's No. 3 pair of Bruno Rosa and Filip Zivojinovic were down 6-3 yesterday before reeling off five consecutive games against TCU. Today the deficit is 7-4 with Zivojinovic getting ready to serve.

On court one, Rice's Christoph Muller and Ralph Knupfer is on-servve against Ed Corrie and Kellen Damico at 5-5.

Zivojinovic just held serve to pull the Owls within 7-5 in the No. 3 match. The Owls need a break to stay alive.

1:47 p.m. CT (Saturday)
Texas Starting to Pull Away in Doubles

Texas' Miguel Reyes Varela and Luis Diaz Barriga just finished an 8-1 victory over Chong Wang and Tobias Scheil in the No. 2 match, while the Longhorn No. 3 pair of Dimitar Kutrovsky and Josh Zavala just broke Filip Zivojinovic's serve to take a 5-3 edge.

On Court 1, it's on-serve at 4-3 with Texas ahead.

12:14 p.m. CT (Saturday)
It's Rice and Texas

What a difference 24 hours makes. Yesterday it was hot, sunny and not a cloud in the sky. It's still humid today as the Owls hit the warm-up courts, but the sun is stuck in the clouds. That's good news for a Rice team that spent five hours in the sun during an emotional 4-3 win over TCU.

The mood of the team is one of focus. There's a quiet confidence among the group that knows it can beat a talented Texas team if everyone plays the way they are capable of.

Rice and Texas have had some memorable matches over the years, including a 4-3 Rice victory the last time the two teams met in Austin during the 2007 season. Seniors Ben Harknett and Jason Mok both stepped up in dramatic fashion to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 win. Below is from the 2007 press release.

With the Owls down 3-2 in the team scoring, Mok rebounded from a second-set loss to go up 5-2 in the third against the Longhorns' Josh Zavala at No. 5 singles. Zavala rallied back to trail just 5-4 and was serving to tie, but Mok picked up his game and didn't relinquish another point on his way to the 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win that tied the team standings and sent all eyes to the third-set tiebreaker at No. 1 singles.

After splitting the first two frames, Harknett found himself down 6-5 and facing match point against Miguel Reyes Varela. Harknett fought off four match points to force the tiebreak, but again found his back against the wall at 6-4. The Owl continued to battle, scoring three-straight points to go up 7-6. The Longhorn scored again, but Harknett and his team would not be denied as he fired off two-straight points to clinch the victory.

Hopefully, history will repeat for this year's seniors Ralph Knupfer and Filip Zivojinovic. The winner of today's match punches its ticket to Tulsa and the NCAA Sweet 16.

NCAA Men's Tennis

It took three match points, but Tobias Scheil held off Casey Powers with a 7-5 win in the third set to seal the 4-3 win for Rice. Afterwards, Scheil spread out in exhaustion. The Owls advance to face Texas Saturday at 1pm. We'll be back tomorrow with live in-match updates.

5:39 p.m. CT (Friday)
Scheil of Power

Not only did Scheil get that hold to make it 3-2, he's churned out two more games to put the match back on-serve and take a 4-3 edge. Scheil is cramping between points but is finding extra energy from his teammates cheering him on in the stands.

5:21 p.m. CT (Friday)
Down But Not Out

It's not the way that Tobias Scheil wanted to draw up the third set as TCU's Casey Powers jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead on two breaks. Scheil just broke back at love to pull within 3-1. Scheil needs a hold of serve here to keep the momentum and keep the pressure on Powers.

5:01 p.m. CT (Friday)
Too Tough Toby

Down 15-40 at 4-5, Tobias Scheil chipped-and-charged his way to four straight points and a critical second set break to force a deciding third set. We've got three more blogs left.

4:50 p.m. CT (Friday)
All Square at 3-3

TCU's Cosmin Cotet evened the score by winning six straight games in the second set after winning the first set in a tiebreaker, while Zach Nichols gave the Frogs a 3-2 lead by knocking off Chong Wang 6-4, 7-6 (3). Christoph Muller bounced back for Rice to make it 3-3 charging back with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory. Everyone's getting into the deciding point at the No. 6 position. TCU's Casey Powers won the first set in a tiebreaker, but Tobias Scheil is up 5-4 in the second set. Powers is getting ready to serve.

4:11 p.m. CT (Friday)
Owls Clinging to 2-1 Edge

In a matter of moments, TCU swipt the momentum back as Adrian Simon finished off Filip Zivojinovic, 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 5 match to make it 2-1. The Horned Frogs also received a pair of opening set tiebreaker victories from Cosmin Cotet and Casey Powers in the No. 1 and No. 6 slots. Powers was ahead 5-2 before Scheil drew even to 6-6. A net cord on a serve allowed Powers to go back ahead 7-6 and a forehand winner gave him the set.

3:43 p.m. CT (Friday)
Owls Up 2-0

In a strange turn of events in the No. 3 singles match, TCU's Kriegler Brink has defaulted with the score 5-5 in the first set. Brink was coughing heavy in between points and informed the chair of his decision to default.

3:31 p.m. CT (Friday)
Frogs Steal Early Momentum in Singles

TCU's Emanuel Brighiu and Adrian Simon won their first sets at No. 2 and No. 5, respectively. The other four matches are on-serve deep in the first set. There have been no breaks in the battle at No. 1 singles between Bruno Rosa and Cosmin Cotet. They continue to go deep into games, and both players continue to respond with big serves.

2:36 p.m. CT (Friday)
Owls Fight Back in Doubles

After a slow start in doubles which saw No. 2 team Chong Wang and Tobias Scheil lose an 8-3 decision, the Owls fired back behind No. 3 pair Bruno Rosa and Filip Zivojinovic.

The duo overcame a 6-3 hole and won five consecutive games for an 8-6 triumph. After a break to go ahead 7-6, Rosa held serve at love aided by a pair of Zivojinovic volleys for the clincher.

All eyes turned to center court where No. 1 team Ralph Knupfer and Christoph Muller overcame an early 3-0 deficit to grab a 6-4 lead. At 7-6 and 40-30, Knupfer executed a serve-and-volley to perfection forcing a TCU forehand error to give Rice a 1-0 lead.

Singles play will begin at approximately 2:50pm CT.

12:57 p.m. CT (Friday)
Owls Ready for Frogs

The Owls arrived at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center a little after 11am. Temperatures are on the rise into the 90's so the players spent a majority of time waiting around in the cool confines of the player hospitality area eating light snacks and staying hydrated.

After a couple of rounds of hangman on a blackboard, some of the players wandered around the grounds to check out the singles matches between Texas and Texas A&M Corpus-Christi. I ran into Filip Zivojinovic behind one of the courts and he told me that waiting for the match to begin is the worst part.

The Owls headed to the warm-up courts at noon to get loose for doubles action. The Longhorns emerged with a 4-0 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Rice and TCU will get underway at approximately 1:15 pm.

Here's a refresher on the dual match format. The teams will play three doubles matches and whoever wins two matches will receive one point heading into singles play. Each of the six singles matches count as one point and the first team to reach four points advances.

3:37 p.m. CT (Thursday)
Owls Hit Practice Courts in Austin

The Owls had a successful light workout for a little over two hours Thursday afternoon at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center on the UT campus.

After practice, Filip Zivojinovic and Hoony Shin had a spirited debate on who is the better basketball player, Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. Shin said it was no contest that Jordan had the complete package, while Zivojinovic countered with Bryant's expolosive ability to take over a game.

All of the teams will gather in the hotel for a refreshment social at 4:30pm. Afterwards, the team will have dinner and maybe catch a movie.

Check back tomorrow for live in-match updates. The NCAA limits blogs to 10 posts per match so hang tight if there's some time between posts.

Blog Central