LATE RALLY FALLS SHORT FOR MEN’S TENNIS IN HOUSTON

HOUSTON, Texas – In a match featuring two perennial men's tennis powerhouses that have a combined 18 conference titles between them, Rice was able to halt a late rally by Radford to open the 55th Rice Invitational Friday with a 4-2 triumph at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.

The Owls (6-8) claimed the doubles point to grab the 1-0 edge heading into singles play. They also won the battles at No. 3 and No. 5 singles to put the hosts within a point of posting a shutout. However, the Highlanders (3-6) had other plans.

Despite dropping their doubles match at the third flight, Nicholas Sayer and Patrick O'Keefe responded in a big way on courts one and six, respectively. Sayer put the first point on the board for Radford when he prevailed (6-4, 6-3) against Jonathan Chang. It was the junior's second win in as many days.

Also delivering a clutch win was O'Keefe, who showed tremendous poise in winning a tightly contested 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) clash with Gustavo Gonzalez. More importantly, the sophomore's third straight victory cut the Highlanders' deficit to 3-2.

Unfortunately, their comeback was ended when Adam Gustafsson took a 6-4, 6-3 decision over Joe Mills at the two spot.

RU concludes its spring break trip to the Lone Star State Saturday, March 16 when the Highlanders take on 53rd-ranked Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 9:00 a.m. (CT). Radford and the Islanders last met Jan. 23, 2009, with the Highlanders taking a 4-3 win over nationally-ranked Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Radford (2) at Rice (4)
Jake Hess Tennis Stadium (Houston, Texas)
Friday, March 15, 2013

Doubles Competition
1. Thomas Dehaen / Stijn Meulemans (RU) vs. Tommy Bennett / Adam Gustafsson (Rice), 4-6
2. Peter Frank / Philipp Seifert (Rice) def. Randall Carter / Joe Mills (RU), 8-6
3. Jonathan Chang / Leif Berger (Rice) def. Patrick O'Keefe / Nicholas Sayer (RU), 8-2

Order of finish: 3, 2*

Singles Competition
1. Nicholas Sayer (RU) def. Jonathan Chang (Rice), 6-4, 6-3
2. Adam Gustafsson (Rice) def. Joe Mills (RU), 6-4, 6-3
3. Tommy Bennett (Rice) def. Thomas Dehaen (RU), 6-0, 6-2
4. Stijn Meulemans (RU) vs. Philipp Seifert (Rice), 7-5, 3-6, 1-1
5. Peter Frank (Rice) def. Randall Carter (RU), 6-2, 6-2
6. Patrick O'Keefe (RU) def. Gustavo Gonzalez (Rice), 6-4, 7-6 (10-8)

Order of finish: 3, 5, 1, 6, 2*

Match Notes
Rice (6-8)
Radford (3-6)

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