Tennis: OU wins at Wichita

The University of Oklahoma men’s tennis team dominated play Saturday at the 2007-08 Shocker Invitational.

Oklahoma opened with three doubles matches wins against Wichita State.

Freshman Ionut Beleleu and senior Ryan Thomas defeated Albert Ballesta and Thiago Dos Santos, 8-5.  Freshman Alex Joitoiu and freshman Vlad Marinescu defeated Tiago Espirito Santo and Adrian Chermaci, 8-6.  Junior Sergey Avdeyev and Branden Joost defeated Scott McCormick and Rodrigo Briceno, 8-1.

“I am really proud of the way we competed today and the way in which we took care of our business,” head coach Paul Lockwood said.The Sooners and Shockers continued play in the afternoon as the two schools switched to singles play.

Avdeyev defeated Ballesta, 6-3, 6-2.  Marinescu defeated Chermaci, 6-2, 6-3.  Joitoiu defeated Dos Santos, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 10-3.  Thoamas defeated Kevin Gardner,7-6, 6-1.

Espirito Santo defeated Beleleu, 4-6, 7-5, 10-6.

The event, which runs through Sunday, will follow an individual format with singles and doubles flights.  A winner will be determined by a point system.

“I thought our freshmen handled themselves very well for their first collegiate event.  We have a chance to continue to play excellent tennis and build confidence at the beginning of the season and we need to make sure we do that tomorrow,” Lockwood continued.