ORLANDO, Fla. – Cincinnati capped the first day of competition at the American Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis Championship by putting an end to ECU’s 22-match winning streak Wednesday, leaving eight teams in contention for the conference title.
 
Cincinnati joined Memphis, Wichita State and SMU in the win column, setting the stage for Thursday’s quarterfinal round, which begins at noon ET at the USTA National Campus.
 
Complete coverage of The American Tennis Championships, including live scoring of each match, can be found on the conference’s Championship Central site. Live coverage of Saturday’s women’s final will be available on the American Digital Network.
 
 
Memphis 4, Temple 0
Records: Memphis (13-9), Temple (13-6)

Alisha Reayer battled back from a one-set deficit at No. 1 singles to get the clinching team point and send No. 8-seeded Memphis past No. 9-seeded Temple 4-0 Wednesday morning.
 
Memphis had built a 3-0 lead after the Tigers claimed the doubles point and got quick straight-set wins at No. 4 and No. 5 singles from Claire Sullivan and Katherine Cao. The Owls threatened by taking the first set in three of the six singles matches, including the No. 1 spot. But Reayer rallied after dropping the opening set to win the next two, 6-0, 6-2, to end the match.
 
Reayer and Claire Sullivan were winners in both singles and doubles for the Tigers. Reayer paired with Laura Bente to edge the Owls at No. 1 doubles, 7-5, while Sullivan was a 6-2, 6-2 winner at No. 4 singles after a 6-2 doubles win with Josephine Cao.
 
Memphis will face top-seeded UCF Thursday at noon ET in the quarterfinal round.
 
 
Wichita State 4, UConn 0
Records: Wichita State (14-9), UConn (5-13)

Fatima Bizhukova and LingWei Wong were winners in both singles and doubles play as No. 5-seeded Wichita State took a 4-0 win against No. 12-seeded UConn Wednesday morning.
 
Bizhukova, who is ranked No. 125 nationally in singles and comprises the No. 21-ranked doubles tandem with Marta Bellucco, rolled to a 6-0, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles as the Shockers took all three completed singles matches in straight sets.
 
Wong was a 6-4, 6-2 winner at No. 6 singles, while Sandra Honigova won a second-set tiebreaker to hold off the Huskies’ Julieanne Bou 6-1, 7-6 (1).
 
Wichita State, which has won 11 conference championships in the last 13 seasons, advances to Thursday’s quarterfinal round and a Thursday match against No. 4-seeded Tulsa (noon ET).
 
 
SMU 4, Tulane 2
Records: SMU (10-11), Tulane (10-14)

Vivienne Kulicke won in both singles and doubles play as No. 6-seeded SMU won a marathon battle against No. 11-seeded Tulane 4-2 Wednesday afternoon.
 
SMU advances to face No. 3-seeded Houston at 3 p.m. ET Thursday in the quarterfinal round.
 
Kulicke, who is ranked No. 121 in this week’s Oracle/ITA singles rankings, won a three-set decision at No. 1 and paired with Avery Aude for a 6-0 win at No. 3 doubles.
 
The doubles point was determined by a tiebreaker at the No. 2 position, where Ana Perez-Lopez and Sarai Monarrez Yesaki took a 7-6 (5) victory, setting the stage for what turned out to be a tightly contested match.
 
SMU’s Karina Traxler was a straight-set winner at No. 2 singles, but Tulane’s Ivone Alvaro put the Green Wave on the board with a straight-set win at No. 3. Kulicke’s win gave the Mustangs a 3-1 lead, but the Green Wave answered again as Adelaide Lavery edged Aude 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4) to make it 3-2..
 
The clinching point came at No. 5 singles as Tiffany Hollebeck scored a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win.
 
SMU, which advanced to last year’s championship final, has won four of its last five matches in the American Championship.
 
 
Cincinnati 4, ECU 1
Records: Cincinnati (12-10); ECU (22-3)

Antonella Bramato won a three-set battle at No. 1 singles to lead No. 10-seeded Cincinnati past No. 7-seeded ECU 4-1 Wednesday afternoon, putting an end to ECU’s 22-match winning streak.
 
The win sends Cincinnati to the quarterfinal round of the American Championship, where the Bearcats will face No. 2-seeded USF Thursday at 3 p.m.
 
The Bearcats built an early 2-0 lead by claiming the doubles point and getting a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 6 singles by Emma Miceli. ECU got on the board when Celia Ruiz won in three sets at No. 2, and the Pirates threatened by splitting the first two sets at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots.
 
Cincinnati held off ECU’s late push when Caroline Morton edged ECU’s Alisa Diercksen 7-5, 7-6 (4) before Bramato completed her comeback win at No. 1. Bramato dropped the first set to ECU’s Lisa Hofbauer, but pulled away for a 6-3 win in the second set before accelerating to a 6-2 decision in the third.
 
Wednesday’s match was the second in five days between Cincinnati and ECU. ECU had taken a 4-3 win against the Bearcats April 12.
 
The loss for ECU ended the Pirates’ program-record 22-match winning streak. ECU’s last loss had been Jan. 23 to North Carolina.
 
 
 
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
presented by AIR FORCE RESERVE
April 17-20 | Orlando, Florida
 

First Round | Wednesday, April 17
Match 1: No. 8 Memphis 4, No. 9 Temple 0
Match 2: No. 5 Wichita State 4, No. 12 UConn 0
Match 3: No. 6 SMU 4, No. 11 Tulane 2
Match 4: No. 10 Cincinnati 4, No. 7 ECU 1
Quarterfinals | Thursday, April 18
Match 5: No. 8 Memphis (13-9) vs. No. 1 UCF (19-3)	Noon
Match 6: No. 5 Wichita State (14-9) vs. No. 4 Tulsa (14-9)	Noon
Match 7: No. 6 SMU (10-11) vs. No. 3 Houston (14-6)	3 p.m.
Match 8: No. 10 Cincinnati (12-10) vs. No. 2 USF (11-10)	3 p.m.
Semifinals | Friday, April 19
Match 9: Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner	3 p.m.
Match 10: Match 7 winner vs. Match 8 winner	3 p.m.
Final | Saturday, April 20 | American Digital Network
Match 11: Semifinal winners	3 p.m.

 
 
All times Eastern