Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowboys Knock Off Undefeated Rice
March 29, 2004 | Cowboy Tennis
“This team was 17-0 and ranked sixth,” head coach James Wadley said. “ We played them in front of a large crowd on their home courts and to beat them is a huge boost for our program.”
Rice scored first after notching victories at the first two doubles positions. Mark Van Elden and Daniel Byrnes suffered defeat at the hands of William and Richard Barker, one of the top doubles' tandem in the country, 8-4. Yevgen Bondarchuk and Boris Kuharic fell to Vuk Rajevac and Tony Haerle 8-4.
Daniel Byrnes evened the match with a quick straight set victory over Rajevac at the No. 5 position.
Yevgen Bondarchuk fell to No. 69 William Barker in straight sets to give the owls a slight advantage. The remaining four matches all needed a third set to declare a winner.
“This was a very good college match,” Coach Wadley said. “About every match went to three sets and everybody was hustling and rooting each other on.”
Van Elden had a nail biter with No. 36 Robert Searle, but he took little drama out of the final set coasting to a 6-1 victory.
Richard Barker snapped Tomas Bohunicky's 11-match winning streak 6-3, 3-6, 7-6. Kuharic was able to rebound after losing his match against Texas to beat Tony Hearle in a tight three set match.
Everything was even at three points a piece with only one match remaining. Juan Felipe Diaz was still on the court with Rice's Jason Mok in the No. 6 singles' match. Diaz took control of the third set to beat Mok and give the Cowboys the victory.
“Felipe is a guy that has struggled at the No. 6 spot for us,” Coach Wadley said. “It was good for him to hold together and regain some confidence in a decisive match like this.
“It showed a lot of character by these guys to come back the way they did and beat a team like Rice after losing to Texas. This is one of the biggest wins in the history of our program.” The Cowboys return home to face No. 39 SMU at the DuBois Tennis Center on Wednesday, Mar. 31 at 2 p.m.
No. 43 Oklahoma State 4, No. 6 Rice 3
Singles
No. 1 #30 Mark Van Elden (OSU) def. #36 Robert Searle (Rice) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
No. 2 #69 William Barker (Rice) def. Yevgen Bondarchuk (OSU) 7-5, 6-2
No. 3 Richard Barker (Rice) def. Tomas Bohunicky (OSU) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6
No. 4 Boris Kuharic (OSU) def. Tony Haerle (Rice) 4-6, 7-5, 7-5
No. 5 Daniel Byrnes (OSU) def. Vuk Rajevac (Rice) 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 Juan Felipe Diaz (OSU) def. Jason Mok (Rice) 6-7, 7-5, 6-3
Doubles
No. 1 #4 Barker/Barker (Rice) def. Van Elden/Byrnes (OSU) 8-4
No. 2 Rajevac/Haerle (Rice) def. Bondarchuk/Kuharic (OSU) 8-4
No. 3 Diaz/Bohunicky (OSU) vs. Searle/Harknett (Rice) DNF
