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Feb. 14, 2013

NORMAN, Okla. -- The No. 8 University of Oklahoma men's tennis team travels to Seattle, Wash., this weekend to compete in the University of Washington-hosted ITA National Team Indoor Championships Friday, Feb. 15, to Monday, Feb. 18. This marks OU's first time to make it to the round of 16 in the Indoor Championships.

"For me, the excitement is actually having the team good enough to qualify," OU head coach John Roddick said. "I'm just excited that we're getting to that level where we're consistently competing to win the Big 12 and be in the round of 16 in these events. And I think that is what's good for the program, overall."

The Sooners (5-1) first face the No. 9 Duke Blue Devils (9-1) Friday at 7:30 p.m. CT. Duke was ranked No. 5 prior to their 4-3 loss to No. 19 Illinois.

"We're ranked eighth and they're ranked ninth, so it's a lot of tough matches," sophomore Dane Webb said. "But hopefully we can get through and go pretty far into the tournament. We're playing well, so I think if we execute and keep playing like we have we should do pretty well."

OU made it to the Indoor Championships after beating No. 47 Harvard in the championship match of the OU-hosted ITA Kick-Off Weekend Sunday, Jan. 27. The Sooners won their first match of the Kick-Off Weekend against No. 31 Memphis Saturday, Jan. 26.

"I look at it as a great opportunity because if we can get a win in that first round, that's going to help us through the whole year," Roddick said. "But at the same time, if we don't, we know it's not the end of the world. We still have matches to play out there. I look at it as a really good opportunity to play a team that's going to be a top five or six team by the end of the year."

The Sooners enter the Indoor Championships after beating No. 17 Tulsa 5-1 in Norman Friday, Feb. 8.

Follow @OU_Tennis on Twitter and like Oklahoma Men's Tennis on Facebook for more information on the men's tennis program.