Tulsa Men’s Tennis Team Advances To Semifinals Blanking Temple 4-0 Friday Morning

Friday, April 22

Memphis, TN

9:00 a.m.

Tulsa

Temple University

Tulsa Men’s Tennis Team Advances To Semifinals Blanking Temple 4-0 Friday Morning

4/22/2016 11:44:00 AM | Men's Tennis

By: Drake Allen

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – On Friday morning, The University of Tulsa's 23^rd-ranked and second-seeded men's tennis team blanked seventh-seeded Temple, 4-0, in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference Championships at the Dunavant-Wellford Tennis Center in Memphis, Tenn. The Golden Hurricane (16-12 overall) will face third-seeded SMU in the semifinals on Saturday, April 23, at 9:00 a.m.

The Hurricane controlled doubles play as senior Dylan McCloskey and freshman Dominic Bechard (No. 2) topped Santiago Canete and Artem Kapshuk in a 6-2 decision. Senior Matthew Kirby and freshman Okkie Kellerman (No. 1) recorded a 6-2 win over Hicham Belkssir and Vineet Naran to give Tulsa a 1-0 match lead going into singles play.

Tulsa continued to be a dominant force in singles play by winning all three matches in just two frames. TU's 46^th-ranked singles player, junior Or Ram-Harel (No. 1), crushed Santiago Canete, 6-1, 6-1, to give the Hurricane a 2-0 match lead. Freshman Okkie Kellerman (No. 5) defeated Florian Mayer, 6-0, 6-4, and classmate freshman Majed Kilani (No. 2) registered a 6-3, 6-3 win over Artem Kapshuk to clinch the 4-0 match victory.

For a PDF version of the bracket click here.

No. 23 Tulsa 4, Temple 0
SINGLES
1. #46 Or Ram-Harel (Tulsa) defeated Santiago Canete (Temple), 6-1, 6-1
2. Majed Kilani (Tulsa) defeated Artem Kapshuk (Temple), 6-3, 6-3
3. Carlos Bautista (Tulsa) vs. Nicolas Paulus (Temple), DNF
4. Dylan McCloskey (Tulsa) vs. Hicham Belkssir (Temple), DNF
5. Okkie Kellerman (Tulsa) defeated Florian Mayer (Temple), 6-0, 6-4
6. Daniel Santos (Tulsa) vs. Vineet Naran (Temple), DNF
Order of singles finish:1, 5, 2

DOUBLES
1. Kirby/O.Kellerman (Tulsa) defeated Belkssir/Naran (Temple), 6-2
2. McCloskey/Bechard (Tulsa) defeated Canete/Kapshuk (Temple), 6-2
3. Kilani/Bautista (Tulsa) vs. Mayer/Paulus (Temple), DNF
Order of finish: 2, 1

Records: Tulsa 16-12, Temple 20-6

Follow Tulsa Men's Tennis Team on Twitter (http://twitter.com/TulsaMTennis) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/TulsaMTennis). Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter atwww.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane.

The University of Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center is host site for the 2016 NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Tennis Championships, May 19-30