The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
University of Tulsa
UAB Men's Tennis Team Falls To No. 21 Tulsa
4/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 21, 2007
HOUSTON, Texas ----- The UAB men's tennis team ran into a Tulsa team Saturday that proved to be too formidable as the Blazers fell to the nation's No. 21-ranked Golden Hurricane, 5-0, in the semifinals of the Conference USA Championships.
The tournament is being played at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on the campus of Rice University.
Tulsa, the tournament's top seed, improved to 18-6 with the win while the youthful Blazers, seeded fourth, fell to 13-8. It was the second consecutive trip to the tournament semifinals for UAB and the second straight year the Blazers have been eliminated by the top seeded team.
The match was tighter than the final margin would indicate as the clinching match at No. 5 singles was settled in three sets. Tulsa's Ross Cunningham outlasted Blazer freshman Alex Emery, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4. The two remaining matches on the court when play was halted - at No. 4 and 6 singles - were both tightly contested as well.
Kruno Despotovski was leading Federico Soriano 5-4 in the second set and serving at 40-0 when play was halted. UAB freshman Thomas Petrich had dropped the first set, 7-6, but was leading the second set over TU's Diego Camacho.
"The final score may not show it, but our guys played a good match today," said UAB assistant coach Davidson Kozlowski. "Give Tulsa credit. They are an experienced team and a very good team. And they're very deserving of their ranking. But if you look at the match, we were hanging tough in four of the six singles matches."
Still, Tulsa did what it had to do to reach its second straight C-USA Championship final.
The Golden Hurricane won the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and 3 positions and then quickly claimed victories at No. 1 and 3 singles to take a 3-0 lead in the match.
In doubles, Tulsa's No. 2 tandem of Andy Connelly and Lucques Maasdorp beat UAB's Tim Bauer and Johannes Spangenberg, 8-5. At the No. 3 spot, Arnau Bruques and Federico Soriano defeated the Blazer duo of Emery amd Thomas Weiss, 8-2. The No. 1 match was not completed as 39th-ranked Camacho and Cunningham were leading UAB's Despotovski and Adrian Tollstam 7-4.
Tulsa's Brugues, ranked No. 5 in the latest FILA collegiate singles rankings, showed he was worthy of his lofty status as he defeated UAB's Weiss, 6-1, 6-2, at No. 1 singles. Will Gray was a 6-1, 6-1 winner at No. 3 singles over UAB's Bauer, giving TU a comfortable 3-0 margin.
After Cunningham had secured the win with Tulsa's fourth point, TU junior Ricardo Soriano was allowed to conclude his No. 2 singles match as he was serving at match point. He then wrapped up a 7-5, 6-3 win over the Blazers' Spangenberg.
2007 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship
Semifinal Round
April 21, 2007
SINGLES
1. #5 Arnau Brugues, Tulsa def. Thomas Weiss, UAB, 6-1, 6-2
2. Ricardo Soriano, Tulsa def. Hanns Spangenberg, UAB, 7-5, 6-3
3. Will Gray, Tulsa def. Tim Bauer, UAB, 6-1, 6-1
4. Federico Soriano, Tulsa vs. Kruno Despotovski, UAB, DNF (6-3, 4-5)
5. Ross Cunningham, Tulsa def. Alex Emery, UAB 6-2, 1-6, 6-4
6. Diego Camacho, Tulsa vs. Thomas Petrich, UAB, DNF (7-6 (4), 1-2)
DOUBLES
1. #39 Diego Camacho/Ross Cunningham, Tulsa vs. Kruno Despotovski/Adrian Tollstam, UAB, DNF (7-4)
2. Andy Connelly/Lucques Maasdorp, Tulsa def. Tim Bauer/Hanns Spangenberg, UAB, 8-5
3. Arnau Brugues/Federico Soriano, Tulsa def. Alex Emery/Thomas Weiss, UAB, 8-2
Records: Tulsa 18-6; UAB 13-8
Players Mentioned
