Men's tennis tops Rice, 4-1, defends Turpin Cup

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Mustangs Defend Turpin Cup, Defeat Rice 4-1

KELLER, Texas (SMU) – The SMU men's tennis team defeated Rice 4-1 at The Birch Racquet and Lawn Club on Saturday for its fifth consecutive Turpin Cup victory.

"We are honored to keep the Turpin Cup in Dallas," said Head Coach Grant Chen. "It is such a special rivalry with our friends in Houston. I am extremely proud of the team for their resiliency with the weather, location change, and playing at a new facility. I like the energy we played with in doubles. I want to thank Dent Family and The Birch for welcoming us with open arms on such short notice. The Dallas tennis community is strong."

With the win, SMU improves to 6-3 on the season, with Rice falling to 5-4.

The Mustangs kicked off Saturday's match by taking the team doubles point.

Julian Steinhausen and Maks Silagy completed SMU's first doubles win on court three, defeating Rice's Arthus de la Bassetiere and Eduardo Morais 6-3. Senior captain duo Adam Neff and Huntley Allen quickly followed with the point-clinching win over Trinity Grear and Santiago Navarro (6-4) on court one.

Trevor Svajda got SMU on the board again with the Mustangs' first singles win of the night. The freshman defeated Trinity Grear in straight sets (6-1, 6-3) to improve his season record to 6-2.

The Owls would go on to claim court three, making the score 2-1.

Liam Krall responded, defeating Emir Sendogan (6-3, 7-5) to extend the Mustang lead back to two (3-1).

Silagy controlled his first set against Santiago Navarro (6-2). The second set came down to a tiebreaker, with Silagy clinching an SMU victory in a 6-2, 7-6(10) win.

"We had a great team win tonight against a tough Rice team," said Silagy. "It was nice to get the doubles point and give us momentum into singles play. I am very pleased with our performance and we look forward to carrying it over into our matches next week."

The Mustangs return to the Styslinger/Altec Tennis Complex on Friday for a home doubleheader with UTRGV (11 a.m.) and Incarnate Word (5 p.m.).

Singles Scores:
Trevor Svajda def. Trinity Grear (6-1, 6-3)
Adam Neff vs. Yasha Zemel (6-3, 3-6, 1-3 – UNF)
Arthus de la Bassetiere def. Jerry Barton (7-5, 6-3)
Liam Krall def. Emir Sendogan (6-3, 7-5)
Maks Silagy def. Santiago Navarro (6-2, 7-6(10))
Louis Cloud vs. Kabeer Kapasi (6-3 – UNF)
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 4, 5, 2 (UNF), 6 (UNF)

Doubles Scores:
Adam Neff/Huntley Allen def. Trinity Grear/Santiago Navarro (6-4)
Trevor Svajda/Jerry Bartonvs. Yasha Zemel/Kabeer Kapasi (5-5 - UNF)
Julian Steinhausen/Maks Silagy def. Arthus de la Bassetiere/Eduardo Morais (6-3)
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2 (UNF)

[dalpony]

Why was the match played there?

[PK]

Why was the match played there?

The Dallas Open was being played at our on campus tennis facilities.

[dalpony]

Thank you