OU Travels To Arkansas

Feb. 18, 2009

NORMAN, Okla. -- The University of Oklahoma men's tennis team (4-2) travels to Fayetteville, Ark., this Friday to take on the 47th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks (5-2), Feb. 20, at 3 p.m. inside the Dills Indoor Stadium.

“Arkansas is a tough team,” OU head coach Paul Lockwood said. “We know them quite well because we play in certain tournaments with and against them.”

The Sooners, ranked No. 72 nationally, are coming off back-to-back victories over No. 34 TCU and Pacific, 5-2, and 6-1, respectively.

"I'm really proud of our players for their efforts in both matches," Lockwood said.

OU is 4-0 when hosting a meet, but are 0-2 when traveling outside state lines. The Sooners look for junior Andrei Daescu to lead them against the Razorbacks. Daescu, ranked No. 44 nationally and No. 5 in the ITA Central Region, is 4-2 in singles action. Daescu is joined by two other ranked Sooners in senior Sergey Avdeyev (No. 77) and Ionut Beleleu (No. 122).

The Sooners and Razorbacks share one common trend; they play each other every year.

“We play them every year so we know their personnel just as well as they know ours,” Lockwood said. “They have a first class coach in (Robert) Cox, and they are led by an All-American, Blake Strode, who has good talent below him.”

After losing their first two meets of the year, the Razorbacks are on a five-meet winning streak. Arkansas is led by Strode, ranked No. 15 in singles play. Matt Hogan (No. 39) is the Hogs only other ranked player.

“It is going to be a dogfight and hopefully we will be ready to play,” Lockwood said.

For live scoring updates click the link below.

Arkansas v. Oklahoma