TULSA, Okla. – Day one of four for the 2014 Conference USA Men’s Tennis Championships begins Thursday, as the No. 8 seeded Old Dominion Monarchs will square-off with the No. 9 seeded Southern Miss Golden Eagles on Thursday, April 17, at 3 p.m. EST at the beautiful Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Championship Format
The 11-team single-elimination championship format will consist of three matches on Thursday, four quarterfinal matches on Friday, two semifinal matches on Saturday and the championship final on Sunday. Matches shall consist of six singles and three doubles. Doubles should be played first, followed by singles. Singles matches are two out of three sets, while doubles are an eight-game proset. The winner gains the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
Host and No. 1 seeded, Tulsa, will await the winner of the opening match between ODU and USM for a showdown on Friday, April 18, at 3 p.m.
In other Thursday tournament action, No. 7-seed UAB will face No. 10-seed UTSA, while No. 6-seed Charlotte takes on No. 11-seed Florida Atlantic, with both matches set for 11 a.m. EST.
A total of five team received first round byes: (1)Tulsa, (2)Tulane, (3)East Carolina, (4)Middle Tennessee and (5)Rice.
On Friday, Tulane, will battle the winner of UAB/UTSA, while the ECU Pirates will square off against the winner of Charlotte/FAU, both slated for 11 a.m. EST. Friday will also entail a battle between No. 4-seed Middle Tennessee and No. 5-seed Rice at 3 p.m. EST.
Semifinal matches are scheduled for 1 p.m. EST on Saturday, and the 2014 Conference USA Championship match will take place at 12 p.m. on Sunday, April 20.
Last year’s Champions Memphis, no longer resides in Conference.
The 2013-2014 Old Dominion Monarchs
The Monarchs finished the regular season with a 12-8 record, which included a 4-3 win over No. 64 ranked College of Charleston on March 23. Old Dominion is 11-6 while playing at home this season. ODU is coming off a hard fought loss at the hands of the College of William and Mary 4-3 this weekend, but the team has showed their resiliency by having a record of 7-1 coming off of a loss, and has only lost two in a row once all season.
No. 61 Carlos Lopez Villa, who is 19-1 on the season and has won eight matches in a row has been a solid rock at the No. 1 slot for Aljosa Piric’s Monarchs. Lopez Villa’s last win over a ranked opponent was against No. 69 Rafael Atia, where he won in dominating fashion 6-1, 6-0.
Zvonimir Podvinski has been steady the entire season and has accumulated a record of 13-7. Podvinski has started in the No. 3 and 4 positions, but has shined as the No. 3 with a record of 8-4.
Old Dominion sophomore Jonas Kuwert has been versatile, playing at four different positions. Kuwert goes into the tournament with a record of 12-8.
The Michael D. Case Tennis Center
The Michael D. Case Tennis Center is a 69,000 square feet state of the art tennis facility, including six indoor courts and twelve outdoor courts. The outdoor courts include stadium seating for spectators with a capacity of 2,000, lighting for night competition, and an electric scoreboard. The indoor facility includes two scoreboards, Conditioning and training facilities, along with staff offices, and lounge areas.
Championship Schedule
FIRST ROUND - Thursday, April 17
Match 1: (10) UTSA vs. (7) UAB - 11 a.m.
Match 2: (11) Florida Atlantic vs. (6) Charlotte - 11 a.m.
Match 3: (9) Southern Miss vs. (8) Old Dominion- 3 p.m.
QUARTERFINALS - Friday, April 18
Match 4: winner of Match 1 vs. (2) Tulane - 11 a.m.
Match 5: winner of Match 2 vs. (3) East Carolina - 11 a.m.
Match 6: (5) Rice vs. (4) Middle Tennessee - 3 p.m.
Match 7: winner of Match 3 vs. (1) Tulsa - 3 p.m.
SEMIFINALS - Saturday, April 19
Match 8: winner of Match 4 vs. winner of Match 5 - 1 p.m.
Match 9: winner of Match 6 vs. winner of Match 7 - 1 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP - Sunday, April 22
Match 10: winner of Match 8 vs. winner of Match 9 - 12 p.m.
Championship Awards
The first and second place team will receive trophies and the first place teams will receive individual awards. Following the Championship and along with the All-Conference Awards, coaches shall vote upon Outstanding Singles Player and Outstanding Doubles Team of the Championship.
Competing Teams
No. 1 Seed Tulsa
-Tulsa is ranked No. 41 in the country
-Japie De Klerk ranked No. 67 nationally
-Clifford Marsland nationally ranked No. 87
-Doubles team of Dylan McLoskey and Clifford Marsland are No. 24 nationally
-Doubles team of Japie De Klerk and Alejandro Espejo are ranked No. 59 in the country
No. 2 Seed Tulane
-Tulane is ranked No. 61 nationally
-Doubles team of Dominik Koepfer and Jao Chi-Shan are nationally ranked No. 36
No. 3 Seed East Carolina
-Jordan Vliegen is ranked No. 30 in the country
No. 4 Seed Middle Tennessee State
No. 5 Seed Rice
No. 6 Seed Charlotte
No. 7 Seed UAB
- Chris Helliar is ranked No. 87 nationally
No. 8 Seed Old Dominion
-Carlos Lopez-Villa is ranked No. 61 in the nation
No. 9 Seed Southern Mississippi
No. 10 Seed UTSA
-Doubles team of Joel Rubio and Tomas Stillman are No. 47 nationally
No. 11 Seed Florida Atlantic
For more information on the 2014 C-USA Men's Tennis Championship, visit the Championship Central page.
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