MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The third day of the 2016 American Athletic Conference Tennis Championships featured four men’s quarterfinal and the women’s semifinal matches. The USF, SMU, Tulane and Tulsa men’s teams advanced to Saturday’s semifinals, while the  SMU and USF women’s squads moved on to the championship match. 
 
Men's Championship - Quarterfinals
No. 2 Tulsa 4, No. 7 Temple 0
No. 2 seed Tulsa produced a 4-0 win against No. 7 seed Temple on Friday morning at the Dunavant-Wellford Tennis Center on the campus of the Memphis University School.    
 
The Golden Hurricane’s top-two doubles pairs posted 6-2 wins to clinch the doubles point. Dylan McCloskey and Dominic Bechard earned a win against Temple’s Santiago Canete and Artem Kapshuk on court two, while Matthew Kirby and Okkie Kellerman defeated the Owls’ Hicham Belkssir and Vineet Naran on court one.
 
Tulsa captured the match with three consecutive wins in singles play. Or Ram-Harel got things started with a 6-1, 6-1 win against Santiago Canete at No. 1. Kellerman added a 6-0, 6-4 victory at No. 5, while Majed Kilani tallied a straight-set win on court two to close out the  match.  
 
The Golden Hurricane move on to the semifinals to face No. 3 seed SMU on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT.
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Doubles Competition (Order of Finish: 2, 1)
1. Matthew Kirby/Okkie Kellerman (TLS) def. Hicham Belkssir/Vineet Naran (TEM) 6-2
2. Dylan McCloskey/Dominic Bechard (TLS) def. Santiago Canete/Artem Kapshuk (TEM) 6-2
3. Majed Kilani/Carlos Bautista (TLS) vs. Florian Mayer/Nicolas Paulus (TEM) 3-3, unfinished
 
Singles Competition: (Order of Finish: 1, 5, 3)
1. #46 Or Ram-Harel (TLS) def. Santiago Canete (TEM) 6-1, 6-1
2. Majed Kilani (TLS) def. Artem Kapshuk (TEM) 6-3, 5-2
3. Nicolas Paulus (TEM) vs. Carlos Bautista (TLS) no result
4. Hicham Belkssir (TEM) vs. Dylan McCloskey (TLS) no result
5. Okkie Kellerman (TLS) def. Florian Mayer (TEM) 6-0, 6-4
6. Vineet Naran (TEM) vs. Daniel Santos (TLS) no result



 
No. 3 SMU 4, No. 6 UCF 0
No. 3 seed SMU defeated No. 6 seed UCF, 4-0, on Friday morning at the Dunavant-Wellford Tennis Center on the campus of the Memphis University School.   
 
The Mustangs received wins at No. 1 and No. 2 to capture the doubles point. Hunter Johnson and Yates Johnson produced a 6-2 victory over the Knights’ Inaki Espindola and Chris Barrus, while Nate Lammons and Markus Kerner compiled a 6-3 win against UCF’s Tyler Pate and Reece Acree.
 
Three wins in singles play gave SMU the win. Samm Butler and Ronald Slobodchikov produced straight-set wins at No. 3 and No. 5, before Lammons came from behind to clinch the match with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory at No. 1.
 
The Mustangs advance to the semifinals to play No. 2 seed Tulsa on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT.
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Doubles Competition (Order of Finish: 1, 2)
1. #26 Hunter Johnson/Yates Johnson (SMU) def. Inaki Espindola/Chris Barrus (UCF) 6-2
2. Nate Lammons/Markus Kerner (SMU) def. Tyler Pate/Reece Acree (UCF) 6-3
3. Samm Butler/Ronald Slobodchikov (SMU) vs. Jack Thiessen/Mariano Porter (UCF) 4-3, unfinished
 
Singles Competition (Order of Finish: 3, 5, 1)
1. #105 Nate Lammons (SMU) def. Inaki Espindola (UCF) 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
2. #61 Hunter Johnson (SMU) vs. Chris Barrus (UCF) 4-6, 5-6, unfinished
3. Samm Butler (SMU) def. Jose Sangroniz (UCF) 6-1, 6-1
4. Markus Kerner (SMU) vs. Mariano Porter (UCF) 1-6, 6-4, 5-0, unfinished
5. Ronald Slobodchikov (SMU) def. Nicolo De Fraia (UCF) 6-3, 6-0
6. Yates Johnson (SMU) vs. Reece Acree (UCF) 5-2, unfinished


 
No. 1 USF 4, No. 8 East Carolina 0
Top-seeded USF earned a spot in the semifinals with a 4-0 decision over No. 8 seed East Carolina on Friday afternoon at the Dunavant-Wellford Tennis Center on the campus of the Memphis University School.      
 
The Bulls raced out to a 1-0 lead after winning the doubles point. Sasha Gozun and Vadym Kalyuzhnyy generated a 6-1 win against the Pirates’ Tendai Tapfuma and James Ling on court one, while Roberto Cid and Everth Dzib  defeated East Carolina’s Kasey Countee and Will Bissett, 6-2, on court three. 
 
USF received straight-set wins from Cid, Peter Bertran and Gozun to clinch the match. Cid, the No. 4 ranked singles player in the country, recorded a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Tapfuma on court one, Bertran added a 6-2, 6-2 win on court four and Gozun closed out the win with a 6-3, 6-4 win on court two.
 
The Bulls will face No. 4 seed Tulane at 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT on Saturday.
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Doubles Competition (Order of Finish: 1, 3)
1. #34 Sasha Gozun/Vadym Kalyuzhnyy (USF) def. Tendai Tapfuma/James Ling (ECU) 6-1
2. Dominic Cotrone/Peter Bertran (USF) vs. Fredric Lehfeldt/Vlad Anghel (ECU) 4-2, unfinished
3. Roberto Cid/Everth Dzib (USF) def. Kasey Countee/Will Bissett (ECU) 6-2
 
Singles Competition (Order of Finish: 1, 4, 2)
1. #4 Roberto Cid (USF) def. Tendai Tapfuma (ECU) 6-1, 6-2
2. Sasha Gozun (USF) def. Kasey Countee (ECU) 6-3, 6-4
3. #48 Dominic Cotrone (USF) vs. Fredric Lehfeldt (ECU) 6-2, 5-3, unfinished
4. Peter Bertran (USF) def. James Ling (ECU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Justin Roberts (USF) vs. Vlad Anghel (ECU) 6-4, 2-1, unfinished
6. Vadym Kalyuzhnyy (USF) vs. Will Bissett (ECU) unfinished


 
No. 4 Tulane 4, No. 5 Memphis 0
No. 4 seed Tulane completed the men’s semifinals with a 4-0 win against No. 5 seed Memphis on Friday afternoon at the Dunavant-Wellford Tennis Center on the campus of the Memphis University School.     
 
The Green Wave earned 6-4 wins from Dominik Koepfer and Chi-Shan Jao, who are ranked No. 22 in the nation, on court one, and Sebastian Rey and Ian Van Cott on court three to claim the doubles point.
 
Tulane carried its strong performance into singles play as the Green Wave closed the match with three wins. Koepfer, the No. 2 ranked singles player in the country, started singles with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Memphis’ Ryan Peniston on court one. Rey and Tyler Schick followed up Koepfer’s win with victories at No. 3 and No. 5.
 
Tulane will face No. 1 seed USF at 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT on Saturday.
 
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Doubles Competition (Order of Finish: 1, 3)
1. #22 Dominik Koepfer/Chi-Shan Jao (TLN) def. Kai Lemke/Louis Asser (MEM) 6-4
2. Tyler Schick/Constantin Schmitz (TLN) vs. Ryan Peniston/Felix Rauch (MEM) 5-4, unfinished
3. Sebastian Rey/Ian Van Cott (TLN) def. Andrew Watson/Shakeel Manji (MEM) 6-4
 
Singles Competition (Order of Finish: 1, 3, 5)
1. #2 Dominik Koepfer (TLN) def. #81 Ryan Peniston (MEM) 6-4, 6-4
2. #104 Constantin Schmitz (TLN) vs. #101 Andrew Watson (MEM) 7-5, 4-6, 1-1, unfinished
3. Sebastian Rey (TLN) def. Kai Lemke (MEM) 6-4, 6-4
4. Chi-Shan Jao (TLN) vs. Chris Patzanovsky (MEM) 7-5, 3-6, 2-1, unfinished
5. Ian Van Cott (TLN) def. Felix Rauch (MEM) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4
6. Tyler Schick (TLN) vs. Shakeel Manji (MEM) 4-1, unfinished




Women's Championship - Semifinals
No. 2 USF 4, No. 3 SMU 0
No. 2 seed USF bested No. 3 SMU, 4-0, on Friday afternoon at the Dunavant-Wellford Tennis Center on the campus of the Memphis University School. The Bulls will be returning to The American championship match for the first time since winning the title back in 2014. 

 
USF captured the doubles point behind wins at No. 3 and No. 1. Nicole Dzenga and Chloe Murphy registered a 6-3 win on court three, while Vera Bessonova and Olga Martinez earned a 6-4 win on court one.
 
In singles, the Bulls’ Martinez and Vanja Klaric increased the squad’s advantage to 3-0 with wins at No. 4 and No. 5. Chaves clinched the match for USF with a 6-2, 6-4 win against the Mustangs’ Hristina Dishkova at No. 1.
 
The Bulls will take on No. 1 seed Tulsa on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT.
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Doubles Competition (Order of Finish: 3, 1)
1. Vera Bessonova/Olga Martinez (USF) def. Vaszilisza Bulgakova/Hristina Dishkova (SMU) 6-4
2. Jessica Chaves/Juliana Cardoso (USF) vs. Dasha Sharapova/Yana Erkeeva (SMU) 5-3, 0-0, 0-0, unfinished
3. Nicole Dzenga/Chloe Murphy (USF) def. Ana Perez-Lopez/Macie Elliott (SMU) 6-3
 
Singles Competition: (Order of Finish: 4, 5, 1)
1. Jessica Chaves (USF) def. Hristina Dishkova (SMU) 6-2, 6-4
2. Vera Bessonova (USF) vs. Vaszilisza Bulgakova (SMU) 7-6 (9-7), 0-1, 0-0, unfinished
3. Ana Roman Dominguez (USF) vs. Dasha Sharapova (SMU) 6-2, 3-6, 0-0, unfinished
4. Olga Martinez (USF) def. Yana Erkeeva (SMU) 6-0, 6-1
5. Vanja Klaric (USF) def. Ana Perez-Lopez (SMU) 6-2, 6-3
6. Mary Wright (SMU) vs. Juliana Cardoso (USF) no result


 
No. 1 Tulsa 4, No. 5 Houston 2
In a matchup of last year’s American Women’s Tennis Championship, No. 1 seed Tulsa earned a 4-2 win against No. 5 seed Houston on Friday afternoon at the Dunavant-Wellford Tennis Center on the campus of the Memphis University School. The Golden Hurricane will look to defend its title as American Athletic Conference women’s tennis champions.

 

Houston jumped out to the early 1-0 lead after claiming the doubles point. Mina Markovic and Tina Rupert earned win a  at No. 2, followed by Despoina Vogasari and Rocio Martin with a victory at No. 1
 
Tulsa’s Rongrong Leenabancho tied the match at 1-1 to begin singles play. Houston regained the lead following a 6-3, 6-3 victory at No. 5 from Maria Cardenas. The Golden Hurricane received wins from Marcelina Cichon, Ksenia Laskutova and Saana Saarteinen to cap the come from behind win.
 
Tulsa will play No. 2 seed USF on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT.
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Doubles Competition (Order of Finish: 2, 1)
1. VOGASARI, Despoina/MARTIN, Rocio (HOU) def. Ksenia Laskutova/Renata Kuricova (TLS) 6-3
2. MARKOVIC, Mina/RUPERT, Tina (HOU) def. Rongrong Leenabancho/Martah Matoula (TLS) 6-1
3. Saana Saarteinen/Mahitha Dadireddy (TLS) vs. CARDENAS, Maria/LORENZO, Angela (HOU) 4-5, 0-0, 0-0, unfinished
 
Singles Competition: (Order of Finish: 3, 5, 4, 2, 1)
1. #104 Saana Saarteinen (TULSA) def. #118 VOGASARI, Despoina (HOU) 6-3, 7-5
2. #121 Ksenia Laskutova (TULSA) def. MARKOVIC, Mina (HOU) 7-6 (7-0), 6-1
3. Rongrong Leenabancho (TULSA) def. MARTIN, Rocio (HOU) 6-1, 6-1
4. Marcelina Cichon (TULSA) def. RUPERT, Tina (HOU) 6-1, 6-4
5. CARDENAS, Maria (HOU) def. Renata Kuricova (TULSA) 6-3, 6-3
6. Martah Matoula (TULSA) vs. LORENZO, Angela (HOU) 0-0, unfinished