April 19, 2008

DALLAS, Texas - For the third consecutive year, Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship title match will feature Tulsa and Rice as the 22nd-ranked and second seed Owls (17-7) escaped with a 4-2 victory over No. 3 seed and host SMU (20-8) Saturday at the new Turpin Tennis Stadium in Dallas.

RICE 4, SMU 2 BOX SCORE

SMU made the statement first by jumping out front 1-0 with identical 8-4 victories at the No. 2 and 3 doubles positions. Mustangs Oivind Alver and Chris Hooshyar cruised to the win over Chong Wang and Tobias Scheil. Rice sophomores Bruno Rosa and Dennis Polyakov rushed out to a 3-1 lead but seniors Alex Skrypko and Adolfo Solares rallied off six points to give the Mustangs a 7-4 advantage before winning the No. 3 doubles point 8-4.

Rice's No. 24 doubles team of Christoph Muller and Ralph Knupfer was pull off the court once the doubles point was sealed. The duo was leading 7-4 over SMU's Robin Fahgen and David Kuczer.

The Owls bounced back as they picked up points at the top two singles spots as 15th-ranked Rosa defeated SMU Kuczer, 6-4, 6-2. Kuczer, a senior, is currently ranked 124th in the recent ITA Individual Rankings. Muller, who's ranked No. 50, also edged SMU's Fahgen, 6-2, 7-6 (3), to give Rice a 2-1 advantage.

SMU tied the score at 2-each with a win at No. 6 singles as Hooshyar took Polyakov, 7-6 (4), 6-2. Wang took SMU's Alver in three sets, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3, to put the Owls back on top, 3-2, while teammate Filip Zivojinovic clinched the match with a three-set win, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, win over Solares.

Sunday's championship match will feature defending champion and top seed Tulsa (20-4) against Rice at Noon. This will mark the third consecutive year these two teams have faced each other in the title match, Tulsa winning both. The winner 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 6: No. 2 Rice 4, No. 3 SMU 2
DOUBLES
D1 Fahgen/Kuczer, SMU vs. #24 Muller/Knupfer, Rice, 4-7 D2 Alver/Hooshyar, SMU def. Wang/Scheil, Rice, 8-4 D3 Skrypko/Solares, SMU def. Rosa/Polyakov, Rice 8-4

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1 DNF
SINGLES
S1 #15 Bruno Rosa, Rice def. #124 David Kuczer, SMU, 6-4, 6-2
S2 #50 Christoph Muller, Rice def. #91 Robin Fahgen, SMU, 6-2, 7-6 (3)
S3 Alex Skrypko, SMU vs. Ralph Knupfer, Rice, 6-7 (0), 7-6 (3), 1-1 DNF
S4 Chong Wang, Rice def. Oivind Alver, SMU, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3
S5 Filip Zivojinovic, Rice def. Adolfo Solares, SMU, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-4
S6 Chris Hooshyar, SMU def. Dennis Polyakov, Rice, 7-6 (4), 6-2

Order of finish:1, 2, 6, 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. 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 vs. No. 2 Rice, 12 p.m.

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