Jan. 7, 2009

Complete C-USA Tennis Preseason Rankings

IRVING, Texas – Eight Conference USA institutions received Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national preseason rankings as announced by the governing body of collegiate tennis. Tulsa’s men’s squad claimed the highest overall team ranking, coming in at No. 13, closely followed by Rice at No. 24. For the women, TU also took top honors with an initial ranking of No. 34, with Marshall coming in at No. 46.

SMU is the third men’s team at No. 43, while UAB rounds out the men’s selections, coming in at No. 74. The Rice women are ranked No. 68 to begin the spring season and SMU’s women begin 2009 at No. 72.

The ITA also released its initial individual singles and doubles rankings and 15 different C-USA student-athletes were named on those lists. Reigning three-time C-USA Player of the Year Arnau Brugues of Tulsa is the highest ranked men’s player, coming in at No. 10 and No. 2 in the Central Region. He is joined in the rankings by teammate Philip Stephens, who is ranked No. 92 overall and No. 8 in the Central Region. Rice has two players in the rankings with Bruno Rosa appearing at No. 26 nationally and No. 6 in the South Central Region, while Sam Garforth-Bles was No. 62 in the nation and No. 11 regionally.

UCF’s Claudio Romano was individually ranked at No. 82 nationally and No. 19 in the Southeast Region, while Memphis’ Jorge Vazquez debuted at No. 102 overall and No. 26 in the Southeast. SMU’s Artem Borodach is the final men’s player to earn a national ranking, appearing at No. 119 overall and No. 17 in the South Central region.

In women’s singles, Marshall's Kellie Schmitt, the reigning two-time C-USA Player of the Year, was nationally-ranked at No. 33 and No. 3 in the East region and is joined by UCF’s Andrea Yacaman at No. 70 in the country. In doubles, Schmitt and her partner Carolina Soor are ranked No. 44 in the country and appear at No. 3 in the East Region.

Brugues and Stephens are also the top ranked doubles pair on the men’s side, debuting at No. 4 nationally and No. 1 in the Central Region. The duo went 6-2 during the fall, which included a second-place finish at the D'Novo All-American Championship and a semifinal appearance at the ITA National Indoor Championships.

UAB’s Brian Ly and Alex Emery represent the league next at No. 20 overall and appear at No. 13 in the Southeast. Rosa and teammate Tobias Scheil are No. 50 in the country and No. 6 in the South Region, while UCF’s Brock Sakey and Joe Delinks appear No. 60 nationally and No. 15 in the Southeast Region.

C-USA tennis action begins this weekend and the 2009 season will conclude with the 14th annual C-USA men’s and women’s tennis championships. The women’s event will be held in Houston, Texas, at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on the campus of Rice University April 16-19, while the men’s championship will take place April 19-21 in Orlando, Fla., on the UCF campus at the UCF Tennis Complex.

ITA weekly team rankings begin on Jan. 29. Singles and doubles rankings are published every other week starting Feb. 19. A complete list of all C-USA tennis student-athletes that were honored with preseason national and regional rankings is listed in the above PDF.