Fall Schedule Begins Friday in Athens

ATHENS, Ga. – The Oklahoma men's tennis team is slated to begin its fall season this weekend with a trip to Athens, Ga., for the Southern Intercollegiate Championship at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

"Being the first tournament of the year we're looking to come out and establish our identity as a team," first-year head coach Nick Crowell said. "We want to work hard every day on the court and compete for every ball and just give a great effort throughout the whole weekend."

The Southern Intercollegiate Championship, hosted by the University of Georgia, is comprised of 32 schools, 170 singles players and 81 doubles pairs. The tournament features 11 singles players ranked in the top 50 of the Oracle/ITA Division I Preseason National Rankings, which includes senior Alex Ghilea and junior Spencer Papa of Oklahoma.

Oklahoma returns four starters from last year's squad that reached the NCAA Championship match for the third year in a row, despite entering the tournament as the No. 11 overall seed, including 2016 All-Big 12 Team members Ghilea and senior Andrew Harris.

Ghilea, the tournament's No. 7 seed in Division I singles, is the highest-seeded Sooner. Ghilea led Oklahoma with 19 combined singles wins last year. He will take on Alex Dominguez of Kentucky at 8 a.m. CT in round one on Friday.

"Being the first tournament of the year we'relookg to come out and establish out identity as a team. We want to work hard every day on the court and compete for every ball and just give a great effort throughout the whole weekend."
— Head Coach Nick Crowell

Papa drew the No. 11 seed in singles. He will start round one with Alberto Esteban of Tennessee Tech at 3:30 p.m. CT. Senior Florin Bragusi's first round opponent will be the winner of Adam Moundir of Old Dominion and Andrew Li of Georgia Tech. The match is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. CT. Redshirt freshman John Milstead will face Colin Hart of Eastern Kentucky at 11:30 a.m. CT.

“We're really just looking forward to getting to play matches,” Papa said. “We've really gotten after it the last three weeks. We have been training hard and getting into shape. The expectations for this year aren't any different. They are always high and we want to build some confidence this weekend.”

OU's four competitors will also see action in the doubles draw. Ghilea and Papa drew the No. 3 seed in doubles and received a bye in the first round. They will begin their tournament in the second round at 10:30 a.m. CT Saturday.

Bragusi and Milstead will pair to take on Yates and Wallert of Kentucky in the first round at 7 a.m. CT on Saturday.

The tournament is the first of four collegiate events on the docket for the Sooners in their fall season. The rest of the team's fall schedule presents two in-state trips to Tulsa and Stillwater for the ITA All-American Championships and ITA Central Regional Championships. Oklahoma will also venture to New York City for the ITA National Indoor Championships in November.

OU's student-athletes will also have the opportunity to compete as individuals in a pair of professional tournaments this fall as they take part in the Houston and Niceville Futures on the ITF Pro Circuit. Collegiate athletes are permitted to play in these events and retain their eligibility.