April 18, 2008

IRVING, Texas - Host and No. 3 seed SMU advances to the semifinals of the 2008 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship with a 4-0 sweep over No. 6 seed Memphis Friday afternoon at the new Turpin Tennis Stadium located on SMU's campus in Dallas.

SMU 4, MEMPHIS 0 BOX SCORE

SMU took the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and 2 positions, however, Memphis was able to get a victory at No. 2 doubles before the Mustangs claimed the point.

The Mustangs raced out to three quick wins in singles to claim the match as senior David Kuczer defeated Memphis' senior Amrit Narasimhan, 6-3, 6-2. Also picking up an easy win was senior Oivind Alver, who eliminated Michael Gaerthoeffner, 6-2, 6-2, and senior Adolfo Solares stopped Memphis' Jordan Smith run for a 6-4, 6-5 (7-5) win.

SMU will face the winner of the Rice and East Carolina match that will wrap up day one of action. The second semifinal match is scheduled for 2 p.m., following the Tulsa/UCF match 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 3: SMU 4, Memphis 0
DOUBLES
D1 Alver/Hooshyar, SMU def. Narasimhan/Ramsay, Memphis, 8-4
D2 Skrypko/Solares, SMU def. Heflin/Nasemann, Memphis, 8-5
D3 Smith/Fischer, Memphis def. Walsh/St. Eve, SMU, 8-5

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

SINGLES
S1 David Kuczer, SMU def. Amrit Narasimhan, Memphis, 6-3, 6-2
S2 Robin Fahgen, SMU vs. Leon Nasemann, Memphis, 7-5 DNF
S3 Alex Skrypko, SMU vs. Jordan Smith, Memphis, 7-5, 4-1 DNF
S4 Oivind Alver, SMU def. Michael Gaerthoeffner, Memphis, 6-2, 6-2
S5 Adolfo Solares, SMU def. Jordan Smith, Memphis, 6-4, 6-5 (7-5)
S6 Adham el-Effendi, SMU vs. Benedikt Fischer, Memphis, 2-6, 3-2 DNF
Order of finish: 1, 4, 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. 3 SMU def. No. 6 Memphis, 4-0
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: No. 3 SMU vs. winner Match 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.