April 20, 2008

DALLAS, Texas - Since joining Conference USA three years ago, the University of Tulsa men's tennis program was won the league's championship title and received the automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. The Golden Hurricane earned this year's title with a 4-1 victory over No. 22 and second seed Rice Sunday at the Turpin Tennis Stadium in Dallas. The Owls have been runner-ups to TU the last three seasons.

TULSA 4, RICE 1 BOX SCORE

FINAL 2008 C-USA MEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

Tulsa scored first by earning a tough double point with wins at the No. 2 and 3 positions. After the score was tied at 2-2, Golden Hurricane Victor Kolik and Alberto Sottocorno rallied off six-straight points for a 7-2 advantage over Bruno Rosa and Filip Zivojinovic. The duo cruised to an 8-3 win. No. 2 doubles saw Rice's duo of Chong Wang and Tobias Scheil push Tulsa's 38th-ranked duo of Arnau Brugues and Ricardo Soriano to the limit before TU claimed a 9-7 win, after seeing the match tied seven times.

The best doubles match of the day, between two ranked teams, was pulled off the court after Tulsa clinched the doubles point. Rice's No. 24 tandem of Christoph Muller and Ralph Knupfer was leading No. 25 Andy Connelly and Ross Cunningham, 7-5.

Cunningham put the Hurricane up 2-0 with an easy 6-1, 6-3 win over Polyakov at No. 6 singles, while Brugues, TU's top player and 22nd-ranked, upset Rosa,6-1, 6-4, for the team's third point, giving Tulsa a 3-1 lead.

Clinching the championship title was Tulsa, Okla., native Will Gray. Gray, a senior, swept Knupfer, 6-3, 6-4, to give Tulsa its third C-USA Championship in as many years.

Muller scored the Owls only point with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Kolik at No. 2 singles.

Rice and SMU will await at-large bids to the 2008 NCAA Championship that is set to start May 9-11. NCAA selection show is scheduled for April 29.

Tulsa women also won its second-straight C-USA tennis championship title with a 4-1 win over Marshall in Houston today.

Championship Match:
No. 1 Tulsa 4, No. 2 Rice 1
DOUBLES
D1 #25 Connelly/Ross Cunningham, Tulsa vs. #24 Muller/Knupfer, Rice, 7-5 DNF
D2 #38 Brugues/Soriano, Tulsa def. Wang/Scheil, Rice, 9-7
D3 Victor Kolik/Sottocorno, Tulsa def. Rosa/ Zivojinovic, Rice, 8-3

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1 DNF

SINGLES
S1 #22 Arnau Brugues, Tulsa def. #15 Bruno Rosa, Rice, 6-1, 6-4
S2 #50 Christoph Muller, Rice def. Victor Kolik, Tulsa, 6-4, 6-2
S3 Will Gray, Tulsa def. Ralph Knupfer, Rice, 6-3, 6-4
S4 #111 Ricardo Soriano, Tulsa vs. Chong Wang, Rice,6-3, 3-6, 1-2 DNF
S5 Alberto Sottocorno, Tulsa vs. Filip Zivojinovic, Rice, 6-7 (3), 1-4 DNF
S6 Ross Cunningham, Tulsa def. Dennis Polyakov, Rice, 6-1, 6-3

Order of finish: 6, 2, 1, 3

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. 3 SMU def. No. 6 Memphis, 4-0
Match 4: No. 2 Rice def. No. 7 East Carolina, 5-0

Saturday, 19
Match 5: No. 1 Tulsa def. No. 5 UCF, 4-0
Match 6: No. 2 Rice def. No. 3 SMU, 4-2

Sunday, 20
Match 7: No. 1 Tulsa def. No. 2 Rice, 4-1