Top-Seeded TU Opens AAC Championships Thursday

The top-seeded University of Tulsa Women's Tennis team will begin their defense of their back-to-back American Athletic Conference Championships tomorrow as they are scheduled to take on No. 8-seed UCF at 11 a.m. The semifinals will take place on Friday with the conference champion being crowned on Saturday. 
 
The Hurricane (18-6 Overall) head into the conference tournament as the top seed for the sixth time in the last 10 tournaments, including last season when TU won their second championship in The American. Tulsa is ranked No. 34 nationally, jumping four spots after beating then No. 30-ranked Kansas on the road last week in their final regular season match of 2017.
 
Senior Dobby Leenabanchong enters the weekend as the reigning American Athletic Conference Player of the Week with a 23-7 overall record in singles play with a 15-4 mark in dual competition. Leenabanchong and doubles partner Martha Matoula won a team-leading 22 doubles matches this season while Matoula picked up a team-best 24 wins with five losses in singles play. Marcelina Cichon heads into the conference tournament having won eight of her last nine singles matches and has a 22-5 record on the year. 

Tournament Bracket

Tournament Schedule
Wednesday, April 19 - First Round
Match 1: #10 Temple 0, #7 USF 4
Match 2: #11 UConn 3, #6 East Carolina 4
Match 3: #9 Houston 0, #8 UCF 4

Thursday, April 20 - Quarterfinals
Match 4: #1 Tulsa vs. #8 UCF - 11 a.m.
Match 5: #4 Cincinnati vs. #5 Memphis - 11 a.m.
Match 6: #3 SMU vs. #6 East Carolina - 2 p.m.
Match 7: #2 Tulane vs. #7 USF - 2 p.m.

Friday, April 21 - Semifinals
Match 8: Winner of Match 4 vs. Winner of Match 5 - 2 p.m.
Match 9: Winner of Match 6 vs. Winner of Match 7 - 2 p.m.

Saturday, April 22 - Final
Match 10: Winner of Match 8 vs. Winner of Match 9 - 2 p.m.