IRVING — The Conference USA Tournament bracket and opening-round matchups for this weekend's event in in Murfreesboro, Tenn., were announced on Monday and No. 8 seed UTSA will take on top-seed Rice at 2 p.m. on Friday at the Adams Tennis Complex.
The Roadrunners (6-17) and the 38th-ranked Owls (20-7) will meet for the second time this season and for the third straight year in the conference tournament.
Rice defeated UTSA, 4-0, on March 11 at the C-USA Showcase in Hattiesburg, Miss. The Owls downed the Roadrunners by that same margin in the opening round of last year's C-USA Tournament in Houston, while UTSA claimed the 2015 C-USA Championship with a 4-2 triumph.
The two teams have split the last eight meetings, but Rice holds an 18-4 advantage in the all-time series.
The winner of Friday's match will face either host and No. 4 seed Middle Tennessee or fifth-seeded Charlotte, who also play at 2 p.m. on Friday, in one of the two semifinal matches at noon on Saturday. Other first-round contests include second-seeded Old Dominion against No. 7 seed UAB and third-seeded Florida Atlantic versus No. 6 seed Southern Miss, both at 10 a.m. on Friday.
The C-USA Championship Match will commence at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
UTSA has played just two other C-USA teams this season, falling to Southern Miss (4-1) and UAB (4-2) at the C-USA Showcase, as the league does not play an official regular season conference schedule.
UTSA has captured five conference titles, including a pair of league tournament crowns, the last of which came at the 2015 C-USA Championship in Norfolk, Va. The Roadrunners have made four NCAA postseason appearances, the last coming in 2015 in Waco.
The Roadrunners are looking to bounce back from Sunday's 4-0 road setback at Wichita State.
Takeru Watanabe leads the team with seven singles wins during the dual match season, while Juri Reckow and Kai Breitbach are close behind with six and five, respectively.
Meanwhile, Fabian Brand and Igor Cantanhede have teamed up for a team-best six doubles victories, while Christian Carrillo and Reckow have four.
Rice is led in singles by Eric Rutledge (17-4), Jake Hansen (14-6) and David Warren (13-6). Hansen and Rutledge have paired up for a team-best 17-7 mark in doubles.
