Oct. 6, 2008

TULSA, Okla. - Jordan Rux was victorious in his first-round match of the qualifying draw of the D'Novo All-American Tennis Championships in Tulsa, Okla., on Monday. However, teammates Attila Bucko and Julian Bley weren't quite as fortunate as they both lost their matches. Due to rainstorms in Tulsa, all matches were played indoors.

The D'Novo All-American Tennis Championships, held this year at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center, entails five days of qualifying events. It began with a 256-player pre-qualifying singles tournament (Oct. 3-5). The pre-qualifying fed into a 128-player and 64-doubles team qualifying tournaments on Oct. 6-8, which then feeds into the 64-player, 32-doubles team main draws on Oct. 9-12.

Rux, a sophomore from Kerrville, Texas, defeated South Florida's Wael Kilani in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. He will take on Tulsa sophomore Victor Kolik, the qualifying draw's No. 12 seed, in the round of 64 on Tuesday. Bucko, a junior from Wellington, Fla., lost to Florida's Joey Burkhard in a tight-fought contest, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-5. Freshman Julian Bley (Veitshoechheim, Germany) battled valiantly against San Diego State sophomore Juan Gomez. However, Gomez prevailed in two tiebreaker sets, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2).

On Tuesday, qualifying doubles action begins with Bucko and Rux matching up against Arkansas's Matt Hogan and Blake Strode. The two teams met in the round of 32 of the recently completed Baylor Invitational with the Arkansas duo prevailing 8-6. "We had three tough, hard fought matches today. We'll use the experience to play better as we move forward," said head coach Matt Knoll. "It's quite a twist that Jordan (Rux) and Attila's (Bucko) first two doubles matches of the season will be against the same Arkansas team. They beat us last time so hopefully it'll be our turn tomorrow."

ITA All-American Qualifying
Round of 128
Joey Burkhard (Florida) def. Attila Bucko (BU) 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-5
Jordan Rux (BU) def. Wael Kilani (South Florida) 7-5, 6-4
Juan Gomez (San Diego State) def. Julian Bley (BU) 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2)

Tuesday - Oct. 7
Round of 64
Jordan Rux (BU) vs. Victor Kolik (Tulsa)

Doubles
Attila Bucko/Jordan Rux (BU) vs. Matt Hogan/Blake Strode (Arkansas) - not before 12:30 p.m. (CT)