MURFEESBORO, Tenn. – (April 20, 2019) – For the second straight season, the Florida Atlantic University men’s tennis has qualified for the final match in the Conference USA Championship, after topping Rice Saturday afternoon, 4-1, in the semis.
Notables:
· Just as they did in the quarterfinals, the Owls (19-9) earned the doubles point, but Saturday, it was two straight wins
· Coming in first was Jason Legall and Ignacio Garcia, topping Rice’s No. 47-ranked duo, 6-4
· Clinching the point was Mehdi Laalej and Gabriel Sidney, winning at No. 2, 7-5
· Alvaro Fernandez Horta was the first singles victor, taking his No. 6 match, 6-2, 6-3
· Making it a 3-0 lead was Gabriel Sidney, 6-3, 6-0, at No. 4
· Rice (14-13) gained a point at No. 5, but FAU put it away with a No. 2 win, Kirac Bekisoglu in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Quotable
Head Coach Ricardo Gonzalez:
”What an amazing team effort. I couldn’t be more proud of the way we competed today. Our boys are fighting so hard for each other and they are very hungry. Today we beat a very good Rice team who really challenged us at every spot.
“Tomorrow will be a big test for us. Middle Tennessee is a very good team. They bring a lot of energy and they are tough to beat. We will need to be at our best to come up with a ‘W.’ They are well-coached and we are expecting nothing but the best from them. Tomorrow will be another battle.”
Full Results:
FAU 4, Rice 1
Doubles
1. #76 Jason Legall/Ignacio Garcia (FAU) def. #47 Sumit Sarkar/Eric Rutledge (RICE) 6-4
2. Mehdi Laalej/Gabriel Sidney (FAU) def. Daniel Warren/Jacob Eskeland (RICE) 7-5
3. Alvaro Fernandez Horta/Kirac Bekisoglu (FAU) vs. Conrad Russell/Mohamed Abdel-Aziz (RICE) 6-6 (9-9), unfinished
Singles
1. Jason Legall (FAU) vs. #41 Sumit Sarkar (RICE) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 4-5, unfinished
2. Kirac Bekisoglu (FAU) def. Jacob Eskeland (RICE) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. Mehdi Laalej (FAU) vs. Eric Rutledge (RICE) 2-6, 7-5, 2-4, unfinished
4. Gabriel Sidney (FAU) def. Campbell Salmon (RICE) 6-3, 6-0
5. Mohamed Abdel-Aziz (RICE) def. Ignacio Garcia (FAU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Alvaro Fernandez Horta (FAU) def. Adam Oscislawski (RICE) 6-2, 6-3
What’s Next:
The final match of the 2019 C-USA Championship, to determine the tournament winner and recipient of the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, will be FAU vs. No. 3 seed Middle Tennessee at noon Eastern on Sunday.
– FAUSports.com –
Florida Atlantic University Athletics:
FAU Athletics is comprised of 21 intercollegiate teams involving 450 student-athletes that compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, volleyball, beach volleyball, cheer and dance. The Owls are a NCAA Division I-A (FBS) institution and compete in Conference USA and the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) (beach volleyball, men’s swimming). The Owls have been playing football since 2001 and are a perfect 3-0 in bowl games, the most recent being a 50-3 victory over Akron in the 2017 Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl. The dance team finished its 2014 season No. 8, nationally. FAU cheer won a national championship in 2016.
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
