Tulsa Men’s Tennis Defeats No. 23 Tulane, 4-3, Sunday Afternoon

Sunday, April 3

New Orleans, LA

12:00 p.m.

Tulsa

Tulane University

Tulsa Men’s Tennis Defeats No. 23 Tulane, 4-3, Sunday Afternoon

4/3/2016 7:26:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Drake Allen

NEW ORLEANS, La. – The University of Tulsa men's tennis team defeated American Athletic Conference foe and No. 23 nationally ranked Tulane, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at the City Park Pepsi Tennis Center. The No. 24 Golden Hurricane improves to 11-9 overall, while Tulane falls to 14-5 overall.

"Tulane is a good team and their ranking shows it," Tulsa head coach Vince Westbrook said. "They left it all out there today. We are looking to continue our momentum into next week."

Tulane's No. 21 nationally ranked doubles team Dominik Koepfer and Chi-Shan Jao (No. 1) defeated Matthew Kirby and Okkie Kellerman, 6-1, to take a 1-0 doubles point advantage. Majed Kilani and Carlos Bautista (No. 3) defeated Ian Van Cott and Tyler Schick, 6-3, to tie the doubles point at 1-1. With the doubles point on the line, Dylan McCloskey and Dominic Bechard defeated Constantin Schmitz and Sebastian Rey in a 6-3 decision to give the Hurricane a 1-0 match lead going into singles play.

"We are slowly getting better at competing on all three doubles courts," Westbrook said. "There are still somethings that we can improve on, but the guys are really working hard and it showed today."

To begin singles play, Tulane's No. 1 nationally ranked player Dominik Koepfer (No. 1) defeated TU's No. 53 nationally ranked singles player Or Ram-Harel, 6-0, 6-3, to tie the match score at 1-1. Tyler Schick (No. 6) defeated Daniel Santos, 6-2, 6-4, to give the Green Wave a 2-1 match lead. Tulsa battled back as Majed Kilani (No. 4) defeated Chi-Shan Jao, 6-3, 7-5, to tie the match score at 2-2. Juan Matias Gonzalez (No. 2) gave Tulsa a 3-2 match lead when he defeated Tulane's No. 83 nationally ranked singles player Constantin Schmitz, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Okkie Kellerman (No. 5) defeated Alex Van Cott, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, to clinch the Tulsa match victory. Sebastian Rey (No. 3) of Tulane defeated Carlos Bautista, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(4), to conclude the match.

"I am very happy with our performance across the board," Westbrook said. "Or Ram-Harel played the best guy in college today, but he is every bit as good as him. Gonzalez picked up a big win for us today. Gonzalez has lost some tough matches, but he has won sets against the best players in college and today he finished it off. We are going to be tough to beat if we keep showing up on every court."

The Hurricane returns to the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on Tuesday, April 5, to take on Arkansas Pine Bluff at 11:00 a.m.

Tulsa 4, Tulane 3
SINGLES
1. #1 Dominik Koepfer (Tulane) defeated #53 Or Ram-Harel, 6-0, 6-3
2. Juan Matias Gonzalez (Tulsa) defeated #83 Constantin Schmitz (Tulane), 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
3. Sebastian Rey (Tulane) defeated Carlos Bautista (Tulsa), 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(4)
4. Majed Kilani (Tulsa) defeated Chi-Shan Jao (Tulane), 6-3, 7-5
5. Francois Kellerman (Tulsa) defeated Alex Van Cott (Tulane), 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
6. Tyler Schick (Tulane) defeated Daniel Santos (Tulsa), 6-2, 6-4
Order of singles finish: 1, 6, 4, 2, 5, 3

DOUBLES
1. #21 Koepfer/Jao (Tulane) defeated Kirby/O.Kellerman (Tulsa), 6-1
2. McCloskey/Bechard (Tulsa) defeated Schitz/Rey (Tulane), 6-2
3. Kilani/Bautista (Tulsa) defeated I. Van Cott/Schick (Tulane), 6-3
Order of doubles finish: 1, 3, 2

Records: Tulsa 11-9, Tulane 14-5

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