Feb. 23, 2007

ORLANDO, Fla. - Memphis rallied back from a second-set deficit in a No. 2 singles matchup and used a deciding doubles point to record a 4-3 Conference USA victory over East Carolina Friday at the UCF Tennis Center.

The Pirates' loss to the Tigers also represented the first of three C-USA matches scheduled as part of a neutral site and road satellite tournament format.

With the victory, Memphis improved to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the conference play while ECU dropped to 4-6 and 0-1.

Sophomore Aleksey Kochetov cruised past Jimmy Khougassian 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 1 singles match to headline the Pirates' success while Bryan Oakley (6-4, 6-3) and Stephen Whitwell (6-2, 6-3) added additional wins in the No. 5 and No. 6 flights. After the Tigers' Charlie Ramsay disposed of Sam McSpadden (6-0, 6-0) at No. 4 and Benedikt Fischer outlasted Matt Peeler (7-6, 7-6) at No. 3, Amrit Narasimhan rallied back from a second-set setback to post a 6-0, 6-7, 6-3 victory over Henrique Viana at the No. 2 slot.

Memphis opened play by grabbing the doubles point after an 8-5 victory by the tandem of Fischer/Narasimhan over Kochetov/Viana and an 8-3 decision by Khougassian/Ramsay over Oakley/Whitwell.

East Carolina will continue C-USA play Saturday when it meets UAB before closing out by facing host UCF Sunday.

MEMPHIS 4, EAST CAROLINA 3
Singles Play
No. 1 - Aleksey Kochetov (ECU) def. Jimmy Khougassian (MEM); 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 - Amrit Narasimhan (MEM) def. Henrique Viana (ECU); 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-3
No. 3 - Benedikt Fischer (MEM) def. Matt Peeler (ECU); 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3)
No. 4 - Charlie Ramsay (MEM) def. Sam McSpadden (ECU); 6-0, 6-0
No. 5 - Bryan Oakley (ECU) def. Tezar Putra (MEM); 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 - Stephen Whitwell (ECU) def. Spencer Heflin (MEM); 6-2, 6-3
Doubles Play
No. 1 - Fischer/Narasimhan (MEM) def. Kochetov/Viana (ECU); 8-5
No. 2 - Khougassian/Ramsay (MEM) def. Oakley/Whitwell (ECU); 8-3
No. 3 - Peeler/Brian Walters (ECU) def. Heflin/Garrison Pilant (MEM); 8-6
Team Records: East Carolina (4-6, 0-1), Memphis (3-4, 1-1)