March 16, 2012
HOUSTON, Texas – The University of Iowa men’s tennis team fell to No. 63 Tulane in the first day of competition Friday at the 54th Rice Invitational at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium. The Green Wave (8-4) earned a 4-0 victory against the Hawkeyes (1-9).
“We didn’t play badly for our first outdoor match of the season,” said head coach Steve Houghton. “That was just a very good team we were playing, and we will have two more teams that are just as good left to play in this invitational.”
Tulane picked up victories in No. 1 and No. 3 doubles to jump out to a 1-0 lead. Playing under tournament rules, the No. 2 doubles match featuring Iowa’s Jonas Dierckx and Tom Mroziewicz was left unfinished
The Green Wave won No. 3, 4 and 5 singles to win the match. The remaining singles matches were left unfinished. Junior Connor Gilmore played his first collegiate dual singles match, competing against Tulane’s Iain Sneddon in No. 6 singles. The match was tied 5-5 in the first set, but went unfinished. Gilmore, a native of Madison, Wis., became the fourth Hawkeye to make his collegiate dual debut this season.
The Hawkeyes will play their second match of the invitational against No. 64 Rice on Saturday. The match will begin at 12 p.m. (CT) at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.
No. 63 Tulane 4, Iowa 0
Singles
1. Matt Hagan (IOWA-MEN) vs. Shaye Wali (TLN) 6-7, 1-2, unfinished
2. Jonas Dierckx (IOWA-MEN) vs. #123 Idan Mark (TLN) 4-6, unfinished
3. Joe Young (TLN) def. Will Vasos (IOWA-MEN) 6-2, 6-3
4. Adam Bernstein (TLN) def. Garret Dunn (IOWA-MEN) 7-5, 7-6
5. Rodrigo Rappaccioli (TLN) def. Andres Estenssoro (IOWA-MEN) 6-2, 6-2
6. Connor Gilmore (IOWA-MEN) vs. Iain Sneddon (TLN) 5-5, unfinished
Doubles
1. Idan Mark/Joe Young (TLN) def. Michael Swank/Garret Dunn (IOWA-MEN) 8-4
2. Jonas Dierckx/Tom Mroziewicz (IOWA-MEN) vs. Shaye Wali/Rodrigo Rappaccioli (TLN) unfinished
3. Adam Bernstein/Takuma Ohashi (TLN) def. Chase Tomlins/Will Vasos (IOWA-MEN) 8-5