April 28, 2006

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Tulsa received two of the top Conference USA men's tennis honors on Friday as the postseason awards were announced. TU sophomore ARNAU BRUGUES earned C-USA Player of the Year and All-League First-team recognition, while head coach VINCE WESTBROOK, who has recorded the most wins by a TU coach, was named 2006 Coach of the Year.

Brugues posts a 16-1 singles record on the season, including an 8-0 mark against ranked opponents, and an 11-6 doubles record this spring. He earned a No. 6 ITA ranking on March 21st, the highest ever for a Tulsa tennis player. Brugues was also named C-USA Men's Tennis Player of the Week four times this season, the most weekly league honors for any Golden Hurricane tennis player in school history.

Westbrook has tallied a 201-178 (.529) mark with the men's program and led the No. 3 TU team to the 2006 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship crown with a 4-1 upset over top-seed Rice on April 23 at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

In addition to his All-Conference first-team selection, FEDERICO SORIANO, the nation's 57th-ranked singles player, was named Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship. The junior helped secure the league title with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Memphis' Sam Withell in the No. 1 position and a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Rice's 122nd-ranked Ben Harknett in the No. 2 slot to help TU capture the league title.

The 20th-ranked Rice tandem of ROBERT SEARLE and TONY HAERLE claimed the doubles point of the three-day tournament for the Owls, defeating Tulsa's Brugues and Aleksander Charpantidis, 8-4 en route to earning the title of Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship. The No. 1 doubles match became important after the No. 2 and No. 3 matches were split between the two teams. The pair was flawless over the league tourney.

Wrapping up the individual awards was UCF freshman BROCK SAKEY, who went 16-5 in 2006 and claimed the Freshman of the Year honor. He won all four his matches against C-USA foes this spring, including a 6-4, 6-4 victory at No. 4 against UAB's Andre Maier in the league championship. Sakey posted a 9-2 record at No. 5 and also went 4-2 at No. 4, while finishing his rookie campaign by winning seven of eight matches.

Only three teams were represented on the All-League first team. Joining Brugues and Soriano as first-team members were two Rice players (ROBERT SEARLE and RALPH KNUPFER) and a pair of SMU athletes (ALEX SKRYPKO and PETER OREDSSON). Representing the All-Conference Doubles Team were duos from Rice (SEARLE/HAERLE), Memphis (SPENCE/WITHELL) and Tulsa (BRUGUES/CHARPANTIDIS).

Rice led all C-USA teams with five all-league selections, while the Owls and the Golden Hurricane were the only two programs to notch at least one selection in all four categories.

Conference USA men's tennis players will now wait for the NCAA selection show that will take place next week. First- and second-round team competition takes place on May 12-17 at 16 campus sites that have yet to be determined. The teams advancing past the first and second rounds travel to Stanford's Taube Tennis Center, to finish the remainder of the tournament from May 20-29.

2006 Conference USA Men's Tennis Postseason Awards

All-Conference First Team
Robert Searle, Rice
Ralph Knupfer, Rice
Alex Skrypko, SMU
Peter Oredsson, SMU
Federico Soriano, Tulsa
Arnau Brugues, Tulsa

All-Conference Second Team
James Spence, Memphis
Ben Harknett, Rice
Tony Haerle, Rice
Ricardo Soriano, Tulsa
Sebstian Falk, UAB
Sinan Sudas, UCF

All-Conference Doubles Team
James Spence & Sam Withell, Memphis
Robert Searle & Tony Haerle, Rice
Arnau Brugues & Aleksander Charpantidis, Tulsa

Coach of the Year: Vince Westbrook, Tulsa
Player of the Year: Arnau Brugues, Tulsa
Freshman of the Year: Brock Sakey, UCF

Outstanding Singles Player of the Championship Federico Soriano, Tulsa

Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship Robert Searle & Tony Haerle, Rice

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