June 3, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

IRVING, Texas - Eight Conference USA institutions ranked nationally in the final 2008 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, as announced by the governing body of collegiate tennis. The ITA also released its final regional rankings in which 10 C-USA institutions were placed. Nationally, 14 C-USA tennis players were honored with singles or doubles rankings, while 24 student-athletes received regional accolades.

Tulsa's men's squad is represented by a league-high seven individuals in the Central Region, highlighted by Arnau Brugues at No. 2. The Hurricane men are also the highest ranked team both nationally and regionally, coming in at No. 1 in the Central and No. 11 in the country.

For the women, Marshall's Kellie Schmitt is the highest ranked individual, appearing at No. 3 in the East Region and No. 55 nationally. The ranking is the highest ever by any Marshall singles player, besting her No. 6 ranking from last spring. The Herd are ranked No. 4 in the East and No. 45 overall.

Tulsa leads C-USA in women's individual regional selections with three in Central Region, led by C-USA Freshman of the Year Alexandra Kichoutkin at No. 6. SMU's Natalia Bubien is the highest ranked women's selection in the Southwest Region at No. 9. The Mustangs are ranked No. 8 in the Southwest, along with Rice at No. 6 and Houston at No. 15. In the Central Region, Tulsa comes in at No. 3 and No. 34 overall.

Victor Kolik of Tulsa, the men's C-USA Freshman of the Year, follows Brugues at No. 7 in the Central Region and Ricardo Soriano is next at No. 9. Golden Hurricane players Will Gay and Alberto Sottocorno follow at Nos. 13 and 20. Rice's Bruno Rosa is the top ranked C-USA player in the South Central Region at No. 4. He is joined by his teammates Christoph Müller at No. 10 and Ralph Knupfer at No. 24. SMU's Robin Fahgnen is ranked No. 13 in the South Central and fellow Mustangs David Kuczer and Alex Skrypko follow at Nos. 16 and 21, respectively.

In men's doubles, Tulsa's Andy Connelly and Ross Cunningham take the No. 2 spot in the Central Region and No. 21 nationally. Brugues and Soriano follow at No. 4. Knupfer and Müller of Rice are the top C-USA duo in their region, ranked No. 4 and come in at No. 28 overall.

Marshall's Schmitt and partner Karolina Soor are ranked second in the East Region for doubles and No. 29 in the country. Bubien and Pavi Francis of SMU are ranked No. 5 in the Southwest Region and No. 45 overall.

Additionally, C-USA sent four schools to the NCAA Team Championships as both Tulsa programs grabbed the league's automatic bids for the second straight year. The Rice and SMU men also earned at-large bids to the team championship.

Tulsa's Brugues, along with Müller and Rosa of Rice competed in the NCAA men's singles championship, while TU' Connelly and Cunningham and Rice's Knupfer and Müller were chosen for action in the men's doubles event. For the third consecutive year Brugues earned All-America honors and was joined by Rosa. This marks the first season since 2003 that C-USA has had multiple men's tennis All-Americans.

Connelly and Cunningham advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals and became the fourth doubles team in TU history to earn All-America accolades.

Schmitt was the lone women's player to make the NCAA individual draw and also played in the doubles event with Soor.