Colorado University Athletics

Men's Tennis Edged at No. 30 Rice

Related Links

April 13, 2003

HOUSTON, Texas - The Colorado men's tennis team bid to win five straight matches came on the short end Sunday afternoon, falling in a close 4-3 decision to No. 30 Rice University.

CU fell to 6-13 on the season and were coming off its first win of the spring over a ranked opponent on Saturday defeating Louisiana-Lafayette, 4-3. On Sunday, CU nearly made it a weekend sweep on the Owls home court.

Despite dropping the doubles point, CU (6-13) rallied to win three singles positions at the No. 1, No. 4 and No. 6. Senior Maciej Dilaj rallied from a set down and stormed back to win 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 over Richard Barker, the No. 29 ranked player in the nation at the top singles slot. Bucky Mink was a straight-set winner at No. 4 taking a 7-6, 6-0 victory, and at No. 6 Jon Magnes was victorious in two sets, 6-3, 6-4.

"Maciej (Dilaj) stole the show defeating the No. 29 ranked player in the country," said Colorado head coach Sam Winterbotham. "Bucky Mink keeps impressing me with his attitude. He responded to the challenge and played well today, along with Jon Magnes, who showed good focus at No. 6. He was very composed and I'm proud of his effort. As a team, we competed hard, but today wasn't our day."

Colorado closes out the Big 12 regular season next weekend with a pair of matches against Oklahoma (April 19) and Oklahoma State (April 20). The match against the Sonners begins at 11 a.m., the Cowboys match starts at noon. Both matches will be played at the Kittredge Tennis Courts.

DOUBLES: 1) R. Barker/W. Barker (RICE) def. Hunter/Tsuda 8-3; 2) Mink/Dilaj (CU) def. T. Haerle/M. Mathaes 8-3; 3) V. Rajevac/T. Morita (RICE) def. Magnes/Bundalo 8-3.

SINGLES: 1) Maciej Dilaj (CU) def. Richard Barker 3-6, 6-4, 7-5; 2) William Barker (RICE) def. Justin Hunter 6-1, 7-5; 3) Tony Haerle (RICE) def. Marko Bundalo 6-3, 6-4; 4) Bucky Mink (CU) def. Vuk Rajevac 7-6, 6-0; 5) Rodrigo Gabriel (RICE) def. Chad Tsuda 0-6, 6-4, 6-1; 6) Jon Magnes (CU) def. Matthias Mathaes 6-3, 6-4.