The Owls flexed their muscles in the first round of the NCAA singles championships on Wednesday with Robert Searle stunning Illinois' Brian Wilson, the top-ranked player in the country, and William Barker eliminating Oregon's Sven Swinnen, ranked 16th, at the University of Tulsa.
Searle, ranked 35th by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, won the first set and was leading in the second before Wilson, the tournament's number-one seed, rallied to force a third set. Searle stormed back in the final set for a 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-3 victory. The win marked the first time since 1996 that the NCAA's top seed was knocked out in the first round.
Tulsa's 61st-ranked Dustin Taylor advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Singles Championships with his victory on Wednesday morning at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on The University of Tulsa campus.
Taylor posted a 6-3, 6-2 mark over California's 56th-ranked Wayne Wong in first round action. The Golden Hurricane senior served to begin the first set with a 1-0 lead, but traded victories with Wong to record a 2-2 score. Taylor broke serve to put Wong ahead in the set, but Taylor netted four wins to capture a 6-3 win.
In the second set, Taylor took an early 2-0 lead, but Wong fought his way back into the set earning the next two victories. Taylor again went on a four-game winning streak to win the set and the match.
SMU's Johan Brunstrom defeats Chris Lam of UCLA 6-4, 7-6. Boise State's Guillaume Bouvier beat Bastian Faisst, Arkansas LR 6-3, 6-3.