Box Score HOUSTON -- No. 19 Middle Tennessee completes a two-match road trip in Texas on Sunday afternoon by defeating Conference USA foe Rice (9-10) at a score of 5-2 in the George R. Brown Tennis Center.

With the win, the Blue Raiders (20-3, 2-0) have now won 14-straight matches since Feb. 6, 2022 and defeated 11-consecutive conference opponents dating back to the 2018-19 season. MT's last loss to a C-USA opponent was a 4-3 defeat by ODU in a conference round-robin tournament hosted by Charlotte, one week before the Blue Raiders captured the 2019 C-USA Championship in Murfreesboro.

"This was another tough road test. Rice is extremely talented and well coached. We stepped up our doubles play today and we competed very well in singles," Head Coach Jimmy Borendame said. "We will enjoy this win and get back to work come Tuesday to prepare for a very tough Texas Tech team." Borendame said.

Middle Tennessee returned to form in doubles to open the match against the Owls, capturing the first point of the match on the top two courts. Seniors Stijn Slump and Pavel Motl imposed their will on court No. 2, defeating their adversaries at 6-2 to put MT ahead. To win the point, No. 47 Oskar Brostrom Poulsen and Francisco Rocha won a thriller on court No. 1 at 7-5.

In singles, the Blue Raiders rode their hot streak and claimed the first three matches in straight sets to put MT at the four-point threshold needed to secure the win. 

Brostrom Poulsen finished first on court No. 5 for the second time this weekend, he won handedly at 6-1, 6-4. Prior to suffering a hand injury on Feb. 18 against No. 24 Auburn, Oskar was 7-1 in singles competiton. After the injury, the Freshman lost three-straight matches. Once OBP was declared fully-healthy by Assistant AD for Sports Medicine Drew Shea, Brostrom Poulsen has a record of 5-1 and has won four-straight matches.

Graduate Student Stepan Holis finished second, giving the Blue Raiders a three-point lead over Rice. He defeated his opponent in straight sets at 6-3, 6-2 for his ninth-straight win in singles.

Minutes later, No. 115 Slump clinched the match at 4-0 for Middle Tennessee on the top court, the Havelte, Netherlands native has won seven-straight singles matches on court Nos. 1 and 2.

After coaches allowed the remaining courts to finish play, Rice would pick up two individual wins over No. 101 Chris Edge and No. 69 Rocha for the only two Owl points scored on the day. Edge moves to 17-5 on the season and Rocha has his 11-match win streak halted, his last loss was on Jan. 23 against Nemanja Malesevic of No. 21 Mississippi State.

Motl would pad the Blue Raider lead, defeating his opponent across the net on court No. 6 at 2-6, 7-6, 10-6 and end the match with at a final score of 5-2.

Next Up, Blue Raiders vs. Red Raiders
No. 19 Middle Tennessee will return home tonight and prepare to welcome No. 41 Texas Tech to the Adams Tennis Complex on Friday, March 25 at 5:00 p.m. CT. The Blue Raiders are seeking their eighth power-5 win and seventh ranked win on the season in Friday's match. Texas Tech is coming off a 2-1 weekend in Tempe, Ariz. at the ASU Spring Break Tournament with wins over Penn State and Wichita State, TTU has won seven of their last eight matches coming into next weekend. As always, admission is free at the ATC for the duration of the season and if the predicted weather holds, MT is set to host our first outside match of the season against the Red Raiders.

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