April 22, 2007

Houston, Texas - Top-seeded and 21st-ranked Tulsa prevailed with a 4-0 victory over No. 2 seed and championship host Rice to clinch back-to-back Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship titles Sunday at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium in Houston, Texas. Tulsa earns the league's automatic bid to the 2007 NCAA Championships, while No. 30 Rice will likely receive an NCAA at-large berth.

TULSA 4, RICE 0

The Golden Hurricane improves to 19-7 on the season, while the Owls drop to 15-11. TU picks up its fourth overall conference title (2 WAC, 2 C-USA) and is currently the only program in the league to have won consecutive C-USA crowns.

Doubles action set the tone for the championship match as each team battle for every point. Tulsa picked up an 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles before Rice's No. 3 duo earned a 9-7 win, leaving the doubles point up to each team's nationally ranked tandem. In a doubles match that took 1:40, Tulsa's No. 39 duo of senior Diego Camacho and sophomore Ross Cunningham outlasted Rice's 53rd-ranked team of junior Ralph Knupfer and sophomore Tobias Scheil, 9-7 (7-5), to score the first point of the match.

Tulsa's fifth-ranked and 2006 All-C-USA first team Arnau Brugues, a junior, put away Rice's 36th ranked senior Ben Harknett, 6-1, 6-4, at No. 1 singles to give TU its second point of the match.

In No. 6 singles, Camacho, a senior, tallied the third point with a 6-0, 6-4 triumph over junior Hoony Shin, who replaced Filip Zivojinovic in the championship lineup today.

A pair of all-conference players decided the outcome of the match. TU junior Ricardo Soriano, 2006 All-C-USA second team selection, upset No. 120 Knupfer, 6-3, 7-5. The Rice junior is ranked 120th in the nation and was named to the 2006 All-C-USA first team.

In Tulsa's five C-USA championship matches, the Golden Hurricane have out scored their opponents, 25-1.

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

MATCH SEVEN FINALS
#1 Tulsa (19-7), 4
#2 Rice (15-11), 0

SINGLES
1. #5 Arnau Brugues, Tulsa def. #36 Ben Harknett, Rice, 6-1, 6-4
2. Ricardo Soriano, Tulsa def. #120 Ralph Knupfer, Rice, 6-3, 7-5
3. Will Gray, Tulsa vs. Christoph Müller, Rice, DNF (6-4, 0-6, 2-1)
4. Federico Soriano, Tulsa vs. Tobias Scheil, Rice, DNF (6-4, 6-6)
5. Ross Cunningham, Tulsa vs. Jason Mok, Rice, DNF (6-2, 2-6, 1-3)
6. Diego Camacho, Tulsa def. Hoony Shin, Rice, 6-0, 6-4

Order of Finish: 1, 6, 2

DOUBLES
1. #39 Diego Camacho/Ross Cunningham, Tulsa def. #53 Ralph Knupfer/Tobias Scheil, Rice 9-7 (7-5)
2. Andy Connelly/Lucques Maasdorp, Tulsa def. Jason Mok/Christoph Müller, Rice 8-5
3. Ben Harknett/Dennis Polyakov, Rice def. Arnau Brugues/Federico Soriano, Tulsa, 9-7

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1