March 25, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
IRVING, Texas - Tulsa is No. 11 in the latest ITA Men's Tennis rankings, while Rice is also in the Top 25, coming in at No. 22. The Owls won three matches over the weekend to claim the team's eighth Rice Invitational title in the last 12 seasons.
Rice's Bruno Rosa is this week's Conference USA Men's Tennis Player of the Week after completing an undefeated week that included a pair of wins over ranked opponents. No. 26 Rosa's efforts helped Rice win its eighth Rice Invitational title in the last 12 years.
MEN'S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK (3/25)
BRUNO ROSA - Rice
So., Florianopolis, Brazil (Coopereduca School)
No. 26 Rosa completed an undefeated week that included a pair of wins over ranked opponents as the Owls won their eighth Rice Invitational title in the last 12 seasons. The Brazilian clinched all three victories at the event, including a come from behind 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph against San Diego's No. 45 Thomas Liversage. It was Rosa's sixth and seventh wins over a ranked opponent. Rosa broke in a new doubles partner, Dennis Polyakov, with a trio of victories over the weekend that featured a dramatic 9-8 (4) win to clinch the doubles point against Middle Tennessee State. Rosa is now 15-3 in singles play on the season, 14-3 at the top singles spot. He is 8-2 in his last 10 singles matches. This is Rosa's third honor in 2008 (Jan. 22, Feb. 12) and the third of his career.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Conference USA will name a male and female tennis Athlete of the Week throughout the regular season. The weekly accolades are selected by the media relations department and announced every Tuesday throughout the season.
ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
J22 - Bruno Rosa, Rice
J29 - Amrit Narasimhan, Memphis
F5 - Christoph Müller, Rice
F12 - Bruno Rosa, Rice
F19 - Will Gray, Tulsa
F26 - Dan Cornei, UAB
M4 - David Kuczer, SMU
M11 - Tarek Ben Soltane, UCF
M18 - Arnau Brugues, Tulsa
M25 - Bruno Rosa, Rice
OTHER NOTABLE C-USA TENNIS PERFORMANCES
ALEX SKRYPKO - SMU
So., Minsk, Belarus
Skrypko extended his singles winning streak to six matches last weekend by defeating Bogdan Borta of Columbia at No. 2. Skrypko also won his match at No. 2 doubles with partner Adolfo Solares.
CLAUDIO ROMANO - UCF
Fr., Valencia, Venezuela
Romano won his eighth consecutive singles match of the season with a victory against Denver. Romano is 10-5 in dual match singles. In doubles, Romano has a 7-7 record with senior Sinan Sudas. The duo has won three matches at the No. 1 spot.
ITA MEN'S TEAM RANKINGS
(Mar. 25)
Rank School
11 Tulsa
22 Rice
56 UAB
58 SMU
INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
(Mar. 18)
Singles Individual
18 Arnau Brugues, Tulsa
26 Bruno Rosa, Rice
49 Christoph Müller, Rice
62 Robin Fahgen, SMU
73 Robin Fahgen, SMU
Doubles Team
16 Knupfer/Müller, Rice
19 Cunningham/Connelly, Tulsa
36 Soriano/Brugues, Tulsa
WEEKLY RELEASE
The Conference USA media relations staff will produce a weekly release each Tuesday throughout the season, including Athlete of the Week selections and updated standings. Complete league statistics and results will be updated daily throughout the season on the Conference website.
ON THE WEB
For the latest Conference USA tennis match recaps, scores, standings, stats and weekly notebooks please log on to the league's official website: www.ConferenceUSA.com
