Sooners Take on Red Raiders in First Round Friday

April 28, 2011

No. 25 Oklahoma (14-6, 3-3 Big 12) at the Big 12 Championships
First Round Info	Friday, April 29, 2011 at 9 a.m.
Opponent	No. 21 Texas Tech (16-8, 3-3)
Location	Waco, Texas \| University of Baylor
Internet	Live Scoring \| Championship Headquarters \| Blog Updates

NORMAN, Okla. - The 25th-ranked Oklahoma men's tennis team opens the Big 12 Championships matched up against No. 21 Texas Tech at 9 a.m. on Friday, April 29, at the Baylor Tennis Center.

The Sooners (14-6, 3-3 Big 12) finished the Big 12 regular season in a three-way tie for third with a 3-3 record, along with Texas and Texas Tech. OU is the No. 5 seed, while Texas Tech is the fourth seed.

Oklahoma closed out the regular season with a win at No. 39 Nebraska, 5-2. On the year, OU has defeated five teams ranked in the top 44, while each of the Sooners' six losses came against teams ranked in the top 30.

Texas Tech (16-8, 3-3 Big 12) has won its last two matches and nine of their last 12. Earlier this year the Red Raiders edged the Sooners in Lubbock, 4-3.

Last season, OU dropped three matches to the Red Raiders, including a first round matchup in the Big 12 Championships, before defeating Tech, 4-3, in the regional finals to advance to the Round of 16.

The winner of the first round matchup plays No. 1 seed and sixth-ranked Baylor in the semifinals at noon on Sat., April 30.

RANKINGS RUNDOWN

The Sooners are led by senior Ionut Beleleu, the ITA Central Region champion, and reigning All-American Costin Paval. Beleleu, a native of Romania, is ranked No. 30 nationally. Fellow Romanian Paval checks in at No. 48.

Beleleu and Tsvetan Mihov are ranked No. 70 in doubles play, while Paval and Peerakit Siributwong are ranked No. 73.

Texas Tech has two singles players, Raony Carvalho and Gonzalo Escobar, ranked at No. 23 and 24, respectively. The Red Raiders have two ranked doubles teams, led by Carvalho and Rafael Garcia at No. 17. Escobar and Vitor Manzini are ranked No. 46.

Dual Match Records

Singles	1	2	3	4	5	6	Overall
1. Ionut Beleleu (Sr.)	9-7	3-1					12-8
2. Costin Paval (So.)	3-1	11-4					14-5
3. Laurentiu Gavrila (Fr.)			8-5	4-2			12-7
4. Peerakit Siributwong (Fr.)			4-3	6-4			10-7
5. Tsvetan Mihov (Fr.)				2-0	6-5	4-3	12-8
6. Lawrence Formentera (So.)					7-3	7-2	14-5
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	4-10	1-0		5-10
7. Costin Paval/Peerakit Siributwong	0-1	9-4		9-5
8. Lawrence Formentera/Laurentiu Gavrila			9-5	9-5
9. Costin Paval/John Warden		0-1		0-1

SOONER TENNIS NOTES

FOLLOW THE SENIOR
Ionut Beleleu, OU's lone senior, has led the Sooners at the No. 1 position for the majority of the year. Beleleu, the 2010 ITA Central Region Champion, has a career record of 93-43 in singles and 59-53 in doubles. The Zalua, Romania native was named to the first team All-Big 12 and Academic All-Big 12 teams in 2010. This past fall Beleleu was one of 32 participants to make the cut to compete in the prestigious USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships.

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 14-4 and is ranked No. 48.

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 6-4 at the No. 4 spot and 4-3 at No. 3. Tsvetan Mihov (12-8) has been instrumental for the Sooners, while 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 10 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 8-5 record (12-7 overall).

LAST TIME OUT
Oklahoma closed out the regular season with a win at No. 39 Nebraska, 5-2.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

Sooners Take on Red Raiders in First Round Friday

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