March 3, 2009

San Diego, Calif. - The #53 University of San Diego Men's Tennis team came up short against #26 Rice on Tuesday, March 3rd in a match that began at 1:30 p.m. PT on the Torero's home courts. With the loss, the Toreros fall to 4-7 on the season. A Torero highlight came when sophomore Dean Jackson (#115) was able to take down 43rd ranked Christoph Müller at No. 1 singles.

Kicking off the match, the Owls took a commanding lead by sweeping all three doubles matches. No. 2 was the first to finish when teammates sophomore Nils Schive and freshman Nicola Bubnic were defeated 8-6 by Rice's pairing of Isamu Tachibana and Bruno Rosa.

Another Rice win followed at No. 1 with the victory (8-1) by 45th ranked doubles pair of Tobias Scheil and Christoph Müller over senior Chris Coetzee and junior Charl Wolmarans. The Owls sealed off the doubles sweep when at No. 3 sophomore Dean Jackson and freshman Tom Wolff fell to Dennis Polyakov and Sam Garforth-Bles, 8-6.

In singles action, the No. 4 matchup of Wolff and Garforth-Bles ended in favor of the Owls (6-4, 7-5) and gave Rice a 2-0. San Diego would recieve a promising win at No. 1 when Jackson downed 43rd ranked Müller in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, pulling the Toreros within striking range.

But the Owls would go on to win the next two matches in consecutive sets at No. 2 (#28 Rosa def. Wolmarans, 6-4, 6-1) and No. 6 (Polyakov def. Schive, 6-3, 6-3) and likewise clinch the match.

In subsequent play, Bubnic defeated Tachibana at No. 5, 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 ret. and Coetzee fell to Scheil at No. 3, 1-6, 6-1, 10-7, ending the match by a final of 5-2 in favor of Rice.

The Toreros will look to return to winning ways when they travel to Fort Worth, Texas to face the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University on Friday, March 6th at 1:00 p.m. PT.

#53 University of San Diego v. #26 Rice
USD West Tennis Courts - San Diego, Calif.

Doubles
1. #45 Tobias Scheil/Christoph Müller def. Chris Coetzee/Charl Wolmarans; 8-6
2. Isamu Tachibana/Bruno Rosa def. Nicola Bubnic/Nils Schive; 8-1
3. Dennis Polyakov/Sam Garforth-Bles def. Dean Jackson//Tom Wolff; 8-6
Rice wins doubles point.
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles
1. #115 Dean Jackson (USD) def. #43 Christoph Müller; 6-2, 6-4
2. #28 Bruno Rosa (RICE) def. Charl Wolmarans; 6-4, 6-1
3. Tobias Scheil (RICE) def. Chris Coetzee; 1-6, 6-1, 10-7
4. Sam Garforth-Bles (RICE) def. Tom Wolff; 6-4, 7-5
5. Nicola Bubnic (USD) def. Isamu Tachibana; 7-5, 4-6, 1-0 ret.
6. Dennis Polyakov (RICE) def. Nils Schive; 6-3, 6-3
Rice wins match, 5-2.
Order of Finish: 4, 1, 2, 6, 5, 3

Match Records: #53 University of San Diego (4-7), #26 Rice University (9-4)