2016 Title Run Begins In Atlanta

^#2Oklahoma at MLK Invitational
^#43Georgia Tech, ^#7UGA, ^#19Ole Miss
Jan. 16-18 | Atlanta, Ga.

NORMAN – The four-time defending Big 12 champion and two-time national runner-up Oklahoma men's tennis team begins its 2016 campaign this weekend with a trip to Atlanta, Ga., for the 2016 MLK Invitational hosted by Georgia Tech.

The Sooners are one of four teams at this year's MLK Invitational. OU, the highest ranked team in the field at No. 2, is joined by host school Georgia Tech, the seventh-ranked Georgia Bulldogs and the 19^th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels. Oklahoma begins the weekend by taking on Georgia Tech on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.

The tournament is structured in hidden dual format. The teams will play 3-4 doubles matches followed by 6-8 singles matches, depending on the number of players for each school. While these matches will count towards the players' individual records and rankings, the results will not count as official team matches.

The MLK Invite is just the beginning of yet another aggressive slate for OU. The Sooners will act as one of 16 host schools during the 2016 ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Should Roddick's bunch win both its matches during the Kick-Off, it will travel to Charlottesville, Va., to defend its title at the 2016 ITA Indoor Championships.

After a 2015 season that saw OU rack up 22 ranked wins, the Sooners will be challenged again in 2016. Oklahoma hosts non-conference matches with Wake Forest (1/31), Arkansas (2/28) and Ohio State (3/6). The Sooners will also travel to North Carolina (2/7), Tulsa (2/20), Virginia (3/12), South Florida (4/1) and Florida State (4/3).

The 2015 Sooners pose with the Big 12 Championship trophy. OU won both the regular season and tournament titles for the second time in program history in 2015.

Roddick and the Sooners look to claim an unprecedented fifth consecutive Big 12 title when conference play opens April 8 with a road trip to Fort Worth, Texas to face TCU. OU topped TCU 4-3 in the national semifinal last season. The Sooners will also travel to Texas and Oklahoma State while playing host to Baylor and Texas Tech. OU went 4-0 against Baylor last season while the Red Raiders handed OU its lone conference loss.

The Sooners may not have to leave the state during the postseason, beginning April 30 with the Big 12 Championships in Stillwater, Okla., hosted by Oklahoma State. The Sooners run to the national championship begins May 13 with first and second round play. OU hosted last season, defeating New Mexico State and Northwestern to set up its run to the national final and will look to play host again in 2016. The remainder of the NCAA Championships will be held on the campus of the University of Tulsa, running May 19-30.

All home matches are played at the Headington Family Tennis Center and the Gregg Wadley Indoor Tennis Pavilion. Admission is to all regular season matches is free.

MLK INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE

Saturday, Jan. 16 – 1 p.m. CT
No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 43 Georgia Tech

Sunday, Jan. 17 – 9 a.m. CT
No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 19 Ole Miss

Monday, Jan. 18 – 9 a.m. CT
No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Georgia

SOONERS RANKED

The Sooners debuted at No. 2 in the ITA's initial team rankings. This marks the second consecutive season OU has started its year in the second spot. In addition to the team rankings, a pair of Sooners find themselves in the Oracle/ITA singles rankings. Reigning ITA National College Player of the Year and Big 12 Player of the Year Axel Alvarez starts the year ranked No. 60 after playing only a light fall schedule and Alex Ghilea comes in at number 92. The rankings are a computer-based system based on fall results.

VETERAN LADEN

Oklahoma returns five of its six starters from last season's squad. Alvarez, who spent much of last year ranked No. 1 in singles, earned All-America and All-Big 12 honors in both singles and double in 2015. Alvarez went 39-6 in singles last year including a 21-match winning streak during dual play.

Ghilea, who was named Most Outstanding Player at the 2015 ITA National Indoor Championships, picked up All-Big 12 honors in doubles in 2015. He paired with Andrew Harris to go unbeaten during Big 12 play. He also racked up 36 wins in singles last year, the fourth most in a single season by a Sooner.

Alex Ghilea and Andrew Harris, who were both highly ranked in singles in 2015, paired together to go unbeaten in doubles during Big 12 play, the only duo in the league to do so.

Harris begins the season unranked after not playing during the fall. He picked up All-America honors in singles and earned All-Big 12 in both singles and doubles last year and was named the 2015 ITA National Player to Watch. Harris went 25-8 in singles in 2015 while splitting time at No. 1 singles with Alvarez and drew the No. 4 seed at the NCAA Singles Championships.

Junior Florin Bragusi also returns for OU. He spent most of 2015 at No. 6 singles where he went 13-4 in singles including a 4-0 mark in situations in which he was the last match on with dual tied at 3-all, including wins against Virginia, Ohio State, Baylor in the Big 12 final and UCLA in the NCAA round of 16.

Sophomore Spencer Papa rounds out the returning starters. As a freshman, Papa went 14-11 in dual play including a 4-1 mark at the NCAA Championships. Papa delivered OU's lone point against Virginia in the NCAA final.

MLK INVITATIONAL SCHEDULE

SOONERS RANKED

VETERAN LADEN

Players Mentioned

Florin Bragusi

Alex Ghilea

Andrew Harris

Spencer Papa

Sponsors

University of Oklahoma Athletics