Sooners, Hurricane Square Off in Norman Tuesday

March 28, 2011

No. 30 Oklahoma Men's Tennis (10-4)
Friday's Match	vs. No. 27 Tulsa on Tuesday, March 29 at 5 p.m.
Locations	Gregg Wadley Pavilion \| Headington Family Tennis Center (Weather permitting)
Internet	Live Scoring
Promotions	• First 25 fans receive OU Tennis T-Shirts • Free Pizza (While supplies last)

NORMAN, Okla. - The 30th-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team steps out of conference play to take on No. 27 Tulsa on Tuesday, March 29 at 5 p.m.

"We are looking forward to the match with Tulsa tomorrow night," John Roddick said. "Tulsa has done a great job so far this year and is proving to belong in the top-25."

The Sooners (10-4, 1-1 Big 12) have won eight of their last 10 matches and are coming off a come from behind win over No. 4 Texas, 4-3, last Friday before falling to sixth-ranked Texas A&M, 5-2, on Sunday.

Tulsa (14-4, 5-0 C-USA) has won four straight and is fresh off a 6-1 win over Tulane. All of the Hurricane's losses have come against teams ranked in the top-25 and their biggest win came at No. 18 Michigan.

Last year, the Sooners snapped a three-match losing skid after traveling to Tulsa to earn the 4-3 victory and then swept TU in the first round of the Norman Regional, 4-0. Since 1952, the Sooners hold a 30-18 advantage over the Hurricane.

RANKINGS RUNDOWN

The Sooners are led by senior Ionut Beleleu and reigning All-American Costin Paval. Beleleu, a native of Romania, is ranked No. 34 nationally. Fellow Romanian Paval checks in at No. 65 and Peerakit Siributwong, a newcomer from Thailand, rounds out the rankings at No. 113.

Tulsa combats with four ranked singles players and are led by No. 59 Marcelo Arevalo and No. 68 Ashley Watling. Japie De Klerk and Clifford Marsland are both ranked No. 123. In doubles, Marsland and Watling comprise the 20th-ranked tandem, while Arevalo and Klerk are ranked No. 67.

Dual Match Records

Singles	1	2	3	4	5	6	Overall
1. Ionut Beleleu (Sr.)	4-5	3-1					8-6
2. Costin Paval (So.)	3-1	7-2					10-3
3. Laurentiu Gavrila (Fr.)			6-5	1-1			7-6
4. Peerakit Siributwong (Fr.)			3-0	5-3			8-3
5. Tsvetan Mihov (Fr.)				2-0	5-4	1-2	8-6
6. Lawrence Formentera (So.)					2-2	7-2	9-4
7. John Warden (Fr.)					1-0	0-3	1-3

Doubles	1	2	3	Overall
1. Ionut Beleleu /Costin Paval	2-3			2-3
2. John Warden/Lawrence Formentera		2-3		2-3
3. Tsvetan Mihov/Peerakit Siributwong			2-0	2-0
4. Tsvetan Mihov/Laurentiu Gavrila			0-1	0-1
5. Laurentiu Gavrila/Peerakit Siributwong			1-0	1-0
6. Ionut Beleleu/Tsvetan Mihov	1-7	1-0		2-7
7. Costin Paval/Peerakit Siributwong	0-1	7-0		7-1
8. Lawrence Formentera/Laurentiu Gavrila			5-3	5-3
9. Costin Paval/John Warden		0-1		0-1

SOONER TENNIS NOTES

PAVAL THE LEADER
Last year's Big 12 Newcomer of the Year started off the year winning nine in a row before falling to Virginia's second-ranked Alex Domijan on March 18. The Sooner is now 10-3 and is ranked No. 65.

NEWCOMER ALERT
Roddick's squad has seen four newcomers compete in the singles lineup this year. Laurentiu Gavrila has been steady at the No. 3 position, while Peerakit Siributwong is 5-3 at the No. 4 spot and 3-0 at No. 3. Tsvetan Mihov (8-6) has been instrumental for the Sooners, Harry Warden has filled in at the No. 5 and 6 spots.

DOUBLES LINEUPS
Oklahoma has tried nine different doubles tandems throughout the season and have won a total of seven doubles points.

GAVRILA THE GREAT
Laurentiu Gavrila, a Romanian native, comes to Norman with a multitude of accolades to his name, including a career-high ATP, Associated of Tennis Professionals, singles ranking of 888. In doubles Gavrila was ranked as high as 721 in the world. Gavrila has been key for OU at the No. 3 spot where he boasts a 6-5 record (7-6 overall).

LAST TIME OUT
The Sooners are coming off a come from behind win over No. 4 Texas, 4-3, last Friday before falling to sixth-ranked Texas A&M, 5-2, on Sunday.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners, Hurricane Square Off in Norman Tuesday

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