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Men Earn No. 35 Ranking, 3 Players Crack Top 100
1/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Jan. 5, 2011
SKILLMAN, N.J. - The University of Tulsa men's tennis team will begin the spring duel campaign as the No. 35-ranked team in the nation, according to the Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings released today by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Three members of the Golden Hurricane earned national rankings, led by sophomore Marcelo Arevalo who landed at No. 44. Junior Ashley Watling was slotted at No. 89 and sophomore Clifford Marsland earned his first-collegiate ranking at No. 96.
This is the first time since Jan. 9, 2007, that TU had three members ranked inside the top 100. Those three players were Arnau Brugues (No. 6), Will Gray (No. 34) and Ricardo Soriano (No. 90).
Arevalo posted a 4-2 mark during the fall campaign and recorded the biggest win of his career Oct. 7 when he defeated then-No. 1 John-Patrick Smith of Tennessee in straight sets during the opening round of the Main Draw at the D'Novo/ITA All-American Men's Tennis Championships.
Watling's fall saw him boast a 5-3 mark, which included a straight-set win over then-No. 37 Casey Watt of Notre Dame in the consolation draw at the D'Novo/ITA Championships.
Marsland debuted for TU with a solid 4-4 mark, with his biggest win coming in a three-set thriller over then-No. 22 Jeff Dadamo of Texas A&M in the consolation bracket at the ITA Championships. Dadamo is currently part of the No. 1-ranked doubles team in the nation.
The doubles tandem of Watling and Marsland also received a rank of No. 22, which is the highest mark in Watling's career and the first doubles ranking for Marsland.
The duo soared to a 5-2 mark in their first fall together, which included a 2-1 record over ranked opponents. Watling and Marsland defeated then-No. 17 Vahid Mirzadeh and Connor Smith of Florida State, and they also took down then-No. 43 Kevin King and Juan Spir of Georgia Tech. King and Spir are currently ranked No. 8 in the nation.
The only loss to a ranked foe came in the championship match of the main consolation draw at the D'Novo/ITA Championships. Watling and Marsland fell 8-6 to then-No. 13 Remi Boutillier and Rikus de Villiers of Fresno State.
The Golden Hurricane will kickoff the 2011 spring season with matches Jan. 12 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (2 p.m.) and Oral Roberts (7 p.m.). Both matches will be played at Case Tennis Center.
