April 20, 2007

Houston, Texas - Top seeded and 21st-ranked Tulsa cruised to a 4-0 victory over eighth-seeded East Carolina at the 2007 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship Friday at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas. Tulsa won the doubles points, followed by singles victories at No. 1, 5 and 6.

TULSA 4, EAST CAROLINA 0

In Tulsa's four C-USA championship matches, the Golden Hurricane have out scored their opponents, 16-1. TU (17-6) will face fourth-seeded UAB (13-7) in the first of two semifinals matches on Saturday. Match time is set for 12 p.m. The Blazers defeated UCF, 4-3, earlier today.

Tulsa's veteran and deeply talented team took advantage of a young Pirate (10-14) squad that had four freshmen and two sophomores in the starting lineup.

Junior Arnau Brugues and senior Federico Soriano handed ECU's freshmen duo of Sam McSpadden and Bryan Oakley an 8-1 loss for TU's first win of the day. Tulsa's 39th-ranked doubles pair of senior Diego Camacho and sophomore Ross Cunningham ended doubles action with an 8-2 win over sophomore Aleksey Kochetov and freshman Stephen Whitwell.

Camacho started a dominos winning effect at the No. 6 singles position with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over ECU's McSpadden. Brugues and Cunningham immediately followed Camacho at No. 1 and 5, respectively, for the team's 16th win of the season. Brugues, who's fifth in the latest ITA rankings, defeated Kochetov, 6-3, 6-1, while Cunningham wrapped up the day with a pair of 6-2 scores against sophomore Brian Walters.

2007 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship
Houston, Texas * Jake Hess Tennis Stadium
April 20-22, 2007

MATCH TWO QUARTERFINALS

#1 Tulsa (17-6), 4
#8 East Carolina (10-14), 0

SINGLES
1. #5 Arnau Brugues, Tulsa def. Aleksey Kochetov, East Carolina, 6-3, 6-1
2. Ricardo Soriano, Tulsa v. Bryan Oakley, East Carolina, DNF (6-2, 2-1)
3. Will Gray, Tulsa v. Stephen Whitwell, East Carolina, DNF (6-6)
4. Federico Soriano, Tulsa v. Matt Peeler, East Carolina, DNF (6-4)
5. Ross Cunningham, Tulsa def. Brian Walters, East Carolina, 6-2, 6-2
6. Diego Camacho, Tulsa def. Sam McSpadden, East Carolina, 6-1, 6-0

Order of Finish: 6, 1, 5

DOUBLES
1. #39 Diego Camacho/Ross Cunningham, Tulsa def. Aleksey Kochetov/Stephen Whitwell, East Carolina 8-2
2. Andy Connelly/Lucques Maasdorp, Tulsa v. Matt Peeler/Brian Walters, East Carolina, DNF (6-3)
3. Arnau Brugues/Federico Soriano, Tulsa def. Sam McSpadden/Bryan Oakley, East Carolina, 8-1

Order of Finish: 3, 2