HOUSTON - Wichita State knocked off Rice for the first time in program history, as the Shockers collected two wins Saturday at the 60th annual Texas Tamale Company Rice Invite.
Wichita State and Rice have met only twice before, both in 1997. The win marks the first ever over the Owls in three contests.
WSU begins the Rice Invite 2-0, and will face VCU tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Brown Tennis Center in Houston.
DOUBLES VS. TEXAS A&M-CORPUS CHRISTI
Miroslav Herzan and
Andrea Caligiana in flight two, followed by
Andrea Trapani and
Eddie Stoica in flight three collected wins to give WSU the doubles point early. Herzan and Caligiana improved to 10-5 in dual action with a 6-2 drubbing of Thomas Rodrigues and William Mottet. Trapani continued his winning ways, teaming with Stoica to drop David Ambrozic and Daiki Tanabe to move to 3-1 as a duo.
DOUBLES VS. RICE
Rice rallied to take the doubles point from the Shockers. The Owls reeled off two straight victories after Stoica and Trapani dropped Jared Aiman and Austin Moninger in flight three 6-1. Dellien and Inoue teamed up for the first time all season, and fell to Mohamed Abdel-Aziz and Jacob Eskeland 6-2. Trailing most of the match, Sumit Sarkar and Conrad Russell roared back to win in a tiebreaker, 7-6(3), over Herzan and Caligiana in their first match of the season in the first flight.
SINGLES VS. TEXAS A&M- Corpus Christi
An injury caused Carlos Pedrosa to retire in flight three, giving Dellien his 11th win, and the Shockers a 2-0 lead.
Haru Inoue gained his third-straight win, and his fifth in the second flight. Inoue dropped F. Kellerman in straight-sets (6-1, 6-1) to push the lead to three. Freshman
Andrea Trapani recorded his third-straight victory in the sixth flight, taking down Biyik Akinshemoyin in three sets (6-2, 3-6, 6-3) to give WSU 4-0 victory over the Islanders.
Three matches between the Islanders and Shockers were in the third set before going unfinished. Mottet led Frosa( 6-3, 3-6, 5-3) O. Kellerman was up on Stoica (4-6, 7-6, 2-1) and Herzan and Rodrigues were tied at four in the third set before going unfinished.
SINGLES VS. RICE
Caligiana returned to the starting lineup, where he made quick work of Ashton Duke (6-4, 6-1). Trapani moved up to the fifth flight, and won handily (6-2, 6-1) for his fourth-straight win, after starting the season 0-5. Dellien, who is 12-5, won 6-3, 6-3 over Jacob Eskeland in flight three to give WSU a 3-1 lead.
Rice wouldn't go away, rallying back to tie the match at three. Sarkar dropped Frosa in the first flight, 7-5, 6-4, followed by Russell taking down Herzan in two tiebreaker sets. That set up an epic match in the second flight for a winner take all. Inoue rolled over Abdel-Aziz in the first set, 6-2, and Abdel-Aziz took the second 7-6 to force a decisive third set. Inoue fell behind 4-3, before rallying to win the final three games and the match.
The win puts the Shockers at 11-8 on the season, and winners of four-straight. Wichita State will face VCU tomorrow with a chance to take home the crown at the Rice Invite.
Wichita State 4, Corpus Christi 0
Singles competition
1. William Mottet (AMCC) vs.
Marius Frosa (WSU) 6-3, 3-6, 5-3, unfinished
2.
Haru Inoue (WSU) def. Francois Kellerman (AMCC) 6-1, 6-1
3.
Murkel Dellien (WSU) def. Carlos Pedrosa (AMCC) 4-2, retired
4. Thomas Rodrigues (AMCC) vs.
Miroslav Herzan (WSU) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 4-4, unfinished
5. Okkie Kellerman (AMCC) vs.
Eddie Stoica (WSU) 4-6, 7-6, 2-1, unfinished
6.
Andrea Trapani (WSU) def. Biyik Akinshemoyin (AMCC) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Francois Kellerman/Okkie Kellerman (AMCC) def.
Murkel Dellien/
Marius Frosa (WSU) 6-3
2.
Andrea Caligiana/
Miroslav Herzan (WSU) def. Thomas Rodrigues/William Mottet (AMCC) 6-2
3.
Andrea Trapani/
Eddie Stoica (WSU) def. David Ambrozic/Daiki Tanabe (AMCC) 7-5
Match Notes:
Wichita State 10-8
Corpus Christi 15-5
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (3,2,6)
Wichita State 4, Rice 3
Singles competition
1. Sumit Sarkar (RICE) def.
Marius Frosa (WSU) 7-5, 6-4
2.
Haru Inoue (WSU) def. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz (RICE) 6-2, 6-7 (1-7), 6-4
3.
Murkel Dellien (WSU) def. Jacob Eskeland (RICE) 6-3, 6-3
4. Conrad Russell (RICE) def.
Miroslav Herzan (WSU) 7-6, 7-6 (9-7)
5.
Andrea Trapani (WSU) def. Jared Aiman (RICE) 6-2, 6-1
6.
Andrea Caligiana (WSU) def. Ashton Duke (RICE) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles competition
1. Sumit Sarkar/Conrad Russell (RICE) def.
Andrea Caligiana/
Miroslav Herzan (WSU) 7-6 (7-3)
2. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz/Jacob Eskeland (RICE) def.
Murkel Dellien/
Haru Inoue (WSU) 6-2
3.
Eddie Stoica/
Andrea Trapani (WSU) def. Jared Aiman/Austin Moninger (RICE) 6-1
Match Notes:
Wichita State 11-8
Rice 6-13
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (6,5,3,1,4,2)
