February 13, 1999
STANFORD, Calif. - The top-ranked Stanford men's tennis team defeated Rice 6-1 in non-league action this afternoon at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
In doubles action, the Cardinal's No. 1 duo of Ryan Wolters and K.J. Hippensteel were ahead 4-3, but fell behind as Rice's Efe Ustundag and Shane Stone reversed the score to their advantage, 5-7. Unforced errors by the Owls allowed Stanford to win the next three games an go up 8-7. Rice countered by evening the score at eight games apiece. In the tiebreaker, a Rice double fault set up match point. Wolter's serve was returned long to give the Cardinal the victory.
Stanford's No. 2 tandem of Geoff Abrams and Vijay Sekhon also played a noteworthy match. The pair found themselves down 4-7, but won the next three games to tie the match at seven apiece. Their efforts weren't enough as the Owls' Robert Collins and Prakash Venkataraman pulled out a 9-7 victory.
The Cardinal improves to 4-0 in dual matches this season and increases its dual match win streak to 43. Rice drops to 3-2 on the year.
Stanford will travel to the National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle, Wash., Feb. 18-21 and will return home to host fifth-ranked Illinois on Fri., Feb. 26. That match will begin at 1:30 p.m. at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
Stanford 6, Rice 1
Singles
(1) Ryan Wolters (S) def. Efe Ustundag (Rice) 6-1, 6-3
(2) Geoff Abrams (S) def. Robert Collins (Rice) 6-4, 6-0
(3) K.J. Hippensteel (S) def. Fabien Giraud (Rice) 7-5, 7-5
(4) Scotty Scott (S) def. Shane Stone (Rice) 6-2, 6-1
(5) Ali Ansari (S) def. Prakash Venkataraman (Rice) 6-3, 6-4
(6) Rafael Reyes (Rice) def. Vijay Sekhon (S) 7-6, 7-5
Doubles
(1) Wolters/Hippensteel (S) def. Ustundag/Stone (Rice) 9-8 (5)
(2) Collins/Venkataraman (Rice) def. Abrams/Sekhon (S) 9-7
(3) Scott/Ansari (S) def. Giraud/Hargrove (Rice) 8-4