April 18, 2008

IRVING, Texas - The two-time defending Conference USA champion and top seed Tulsa eliminated No. 8 seed Southern Miss (8-14), 4-1, early Friday afternoon in the second match of the 2008 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship held at the new Turpin Tennis Stadium located on SMU¡¦s campus in Dallas.

TULSA 4, SOUTHERN MISS 1, BOX SCORE

Tulsa (19-4) advanced to semifinal action with wins at the No. 1, 2 and 5 singles, plus earned the doubles point.

Hurricane senior and 22nd-ranked Arnau Brugues cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 win over Southern Miss¡¦ Domagoj Anic for the team¡¦s first singles point. Following Brugues was Will Gray and Andy Connelly with identical match scores of 6-2, 6-2 over Jan Burmeister and Diego Machuca, respectively.

TU¡¦s doubles point was earned by a pair of nationally-ranked tandems at No. 1 and 3. Leaving the courts first was the 25th-ranked team of Connelly and Ross Cunningham. The duo dismissed Southern Miss¡¦ Diego Machuca and Markus Wessinghage, 8-1, while 38th-ranked pair of Victor Kolik and Alberto Sottocorno defeated Oscar Machuca and Domagoj Anic, 8-5, for the score.

Tulsa will face UCF on Saturday at 11 a.m. The championship match is set for Sunday at Noon. The C-USA champion receives the league¡¦s automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Championships.

Tennis fans can watch live scoring at www.SMUMustangs.com or www.ConferenceUSA.com. Single day ticket prices are just $5 (adults) and $3 (youth), while an all-tournament pass is only $10 (adults) and $6 (youth). Groups of 10-or-more can purchase tickets for just $3 (single day) and $6 (tournament pass).

Match 2: Tulsa 4, Southern Miss 1
DOUBLES
D1 #25 Connelly/Ross Cunningham, Tulsa def. D. Machuca/Wessinghage, Southern Miss, 8-1
D2 Brugues/Soriano, Tulsa vs. Poole/Burmeister, Southern Miss, 7-3 (DNF)
D3 #38 Victor Kolik/Sottocorno, Tulsa def. O. Machuca/Anic, Southern Miss, 8-5
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2 DNF

SINGLES
S1 #22 Arnau Brugues, Tulsa def. Domagoj Anic, Southern Miss, 6-1, 6-2
S2 Will Gray, Tulsa def. Jan Burmeister, Southern Miss, 6-2, 6-2
S3 #111 Ricardo Soriano, Tulsa vs. Diego Machuca, Southern Miss, 6-3, 4-2 DNF
S4 Alberto Sottocorno, Tulsa vs. Oscar Machuca, Southern Miss, 7-6 DNF
S5 Andy Connelly, Tulsa def. Markus Wessinghage, Southern Miss, 6-2, 6-2
S6 Strate Krstevski, Southern Miss def. Albert Jou, Tulsa, 6-2, 6-2

Order of finish: 1, 6, 2, 5

2008 C-USA MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
Turpin Tennis Stadium / Dallas, Texas / April 18-20
APRIL
Friday, 18
Match 1: No. 5 UCF def. No. 4 UAB, 4-2
Match 2: No. 1 Tulsa def. No. 8 Southern Miss, 4-1
Match 3: No. 6 Memphis vs. No. 3 SMU / 2 p.m.
Match 4: No. 7 East Carolina vs. No. 2 Rice / 5 p.m.

Saturday, 19
Match 5: No. 5 UCF vs. No. 1 Tulsa / 11 a.m.
Match 6: winner Match 3 and 4 / 2 p.m.

Sunday, 20
Match 7: winner Match 5 and 6 / 12 p.m.

All championship times are Central and will be played at the new Turpin Tennis Stadium.