Men’s Tennis Earns Return to C-USA Title Match

Saturday, April 20

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

12:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

Rice

4/20/2019 8:39:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Box Score

MURFEESBORO, Tenn. – 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. Follow along with live stats again at this link.