Tribe Opens Blue Gray Classic with No. 8 Tulsa

The Tribe will meet the Golden Hurricane on Thursday, March 13, at 12:30 p.m. ET in Montgomery, Ala.

03/11/08 5:15PM

Williamsburg - The draw for the 2008 Blue Gray National Tennis Classic has been released and the William and Mary men’s tennis team will battle No. 8-ranked Tulsa in the opening round of the event on Thursday, March 13. The Tribe will face the Golden Hurricane at 12:30 p.m. ET. The Blue Gray Classic will run through the championship match on Sunday, March 16, at the Lagoon Park Tennis Center in Montgomery, Alabama.

Tulsa is the highest of the 14 ranked teams at the Blue Gray Classic and enters the event at 10-2 on the year. The Golden Hurricanes lone losses on the year came to No. 3 Georgia and No. 5 Mississippi. The No. 8 national ranking is the highest in school history for Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane lineup features a pair of ranked singles players in No. 41 Arnau Brugues and No. 105 Ricardo Soriano to go along with a pair of nationally ranked doubles teams in No. 25 Ross Cunningham and Andy Connelly to go along with the No. 35-ranked duo of Soriano and Brugues.

No. 60 W&M enters the match at 11-7 overall and will look to rebound after dropping three straight matches during its Spring Break trip. The Tribe fell to Minnesota, 4-3, No. 35 Boise State, 6-1, and No. 3 Georgia, 7-0, last week. In the ITA singles and doubles rankings released on March 4, senior Alex Cojanu moved back into the national singles standings at No. 124. Cojanu and sophomore Keziel Juneau were ranked No. 33 nationally in the doubles poll.

The winner of the Tribe-Golden Hurricane tilt will battle the winner of No. 49 N.C. State and No. 30 Notre Dame in the second round. The other two teams in the quartet will face off in the consolation bracket. The rest of the Blue Gray field is comprised of No. 19 VCU, No. 21 Alabama, No. 24 Oklahoma State, No. 25 Texas Tech, No. 28 Auburn, No. 35 Boise State, No. 46 Oklahoma, No. 48 Fresno State, No. 64 Wisconsin, No. 65 Penn State, Brown and Furman.

2008 Blue Gray National Tennis Classic Bracket (PDF)