Red Raiders Lose To No. 6 Rice

March 14, 2004

Lubbock, Texas - Despite a stunning victory by Tech's Jakob Paulsen over No. 33 Robert Searle, the Red Raiders lost to sixth-ranked Rice, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon in Houston.

In singles competition, the upset of the day came at the No. 1 position where Paulsen beat Searle 6-7, 6-4, 6-1, but the closest match came at the No. 5 slot where Dinko Halachev lost to Ben Harknett 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. At the one spot, Tech's Esat Tanik lost to undefeated Richard Barker 6-1, 6-1, while Bojan Szumanski fell to Tony Haerle 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. Although Szumanski lost, it was the first set Haerle has lost this season. Tech Coach Tim Siegel believes his team gave it their all.

"It was an unbelievable college tennis match. We only played singles because of weather," Siegel said. "Jakob Paulsen defeated the thirty- third ranked player in the nation. Dinko lost a very close match, and had he pulled out a victory it would have been three to three with Vickers winning his match. It was an overall gutsy performance. We fell to the number six team in the country."

The Red Raiders will be back in action when they host Louisiana- Lafayette on March 19 at the McLeod Tennis Center.

Singles Only

1) Jakob Paulsen (TT) def. Robert Searle (RU), 6-7, 6-4, 6-1

2) Richard Barker (RU) def. Esat Tanik (TT), 6-1, 6-1

3) Tony Haerle (RU) def. Bojan Szumanski (TT), 2-6, 6-3, 6-1

4) Vuk Rajevac (RU) def. Michael Innerebner (TT), 6-3, 6-4

5) Ben Harknett (RU) def. Dinko Halachev (TT), 6-2, 5-7, 6-4

6) Rodney Vickers (TT) def. Rodrigo Gabriel (RU), 6-2, 6-2

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Bojan Szumanski