OU Looks to Extend Home Streak Versus Tulsa

No. 1 Oklahoma vs. Tulsa

Norman, Okla. | Feb. 24 | 6 p.m. CT | Gregg Wadley Indoor Pavilion

Headington Family Tennis Center

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2017 Statistics

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MATCHUP AT A GLANCE
	Oklahoma	Tulsa
2017 Record	9-2	4-6
2016 Result	20-11 (NCAA Final)	17-14 (Rd. of 64)
Ranked Singles Players	#24, #33, #64, #75	#25
Ranked Doubles Players	#40, #43	#34
Doubles Point Record	7-4	6-4

NEWS, NOTES AND NUMBERS

SOONERS SURGING

Oklahoma, ranked No. 5 in the Oracle/ITA rankings, enters Friday's match with Tulsa at 9-2 on the year, coming off back-to-back top-10 wins over No. 7 Northwestern and No. 6 Florida at the 2017 ITA National Indoor Championships. The Sooners are undefeated with six wins at home on the year and have won eight straight home matches dating back to last season. OU's wins over the weekend brought its total over ranked opponents to four on the year, and also pushed the Sooners to 7-1 in their last eight matches.

BIG WINS AT INDOORS

With wins over two top-10 teams and its only loss coming to runner-up Ohio State, few teams had a better weekend at National Indoors than Oklahoma. Against the Wildcats, the Sooners won the doubles point to jump out to a 1-0 lead, but Northwestern bounced back to push the dual to the last match remaining. At court six, freshman Jochen Bertsch was locked in a three-set battle with Jason Seidman. The youngster from Mannheim, Germany, would clinch the match for Oklahoma with a win in a third-set tiebreaker.

Sunday against Gators the Sooners played without their top singles player Andrew Harris and then dropped the doubles point to dig an early hole, but Oklahoma rebounded to win four of the six singles matches completed to take a 4-2 win. Junior Spencer Papa won at the No. 1 position against No. 9-ranked Alfredo Perez, senior Alex Ghilea knocked off No. 24 Chase Perez-Blanco in straight-sets at No. 2, senior Florin Bragusi picked up a win over No. 60 Elliott Orkin at No. 3 and freshman Adrian Oetzbach earned his first career ranked win with a defeat of No. 109 Johannes Ingildsen in straight sets.

SCOUTING TULSA

Led by head coach Vince Westbrook, the Golden Hurricane enters its showdown in Norman at 4-6 on the season, having dropped five consecutive matches. Tulsa earned a marquee win on Jan. 20 over then-No. 4 Texas, winning 4-3, along with taking three points in their Jan. 14 dual at then-No. 19 Arkansas. Westbrook, who has been at the helm for Tulsa men's tennis for 25 years, has yet to have a losing season since 2003. Tulsa boasts one ranked singles player in Or Ram-Harel (No. 25). Ram-Harel pairs with Majed Kilani as the nation's 23rd-ranked doubles tandem.

RISING RANKINGS

OU's resilient play has resulted in improved individual rankings. Papa is the highest-rated Sooner at No. 24 in the latest Oracle/ITA poll. He picked up a big ranked win by topping then-No. 9 Alfredo Perez at No. 1 singles against Florida. Harris dropped a couple spots to No. 33, while Bragusi catapulted from No. 105 to No. 65 this week. Ghilea made his 2017 singles ranking debut, appearing at No. 74. Oklahoma also has two doubles teams in the rankings. Papa and Harris, who have played at No. 1 doubles for the Sooners this year, rank No. 40 while Papa also ranks No. 43 when pairing with Ghilea.

SIZZLING SINGLES

Oklahoma enters Friday's match with three players at a combined 24-3 in dual-play singles. Bertsch, Bragusi and Ghilea are all 8-1 in 2017, with each of their lone losses coming at No. 2 Wake Forest. For No. 65 Bragusi and No. 74 Ghilea, both Romania natives, seven of their eight singles wins have come in straight sets. Ghilea is 2-0 versus ranked foes this year, while Bragusi defeated Florida's No. 60 Elliott Orkin this past Sunday, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1.

Harris has been strong for Oklahoma as well. On Feb. 7 he earned his second straight Big 12 Player of the Week honor, becoming the first player to go back-to-back since 2012. He went 4-0 in doubles and singles at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend and then took down then- No. 3 Mike Redlicki in singles in OU's win at Arkansas.

UP NEXT

Coach Crowell and his squad are looking to capture one more victory before a nine-day break from action. OU will next be in action March 5 in Columbus, Ohio, to take on Ohio State. Oklahoma will then return to Headington Family Tennis Center for one more non-conference home match versus Cornell on March 12 at noon.

As always, admission for all regular season matches will be free for fans. For more information on Oklahoma men's tennis, follow the team on Twitter @OU_MTennis.

OU Looks to Extend Home Streak Versus Tulsa