DENVER - Six men's and women's programs will represent the Western Athletic Conference at the 2001 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships to take place later this month at two sites in Georgia. Selections for the 64 teams and individual singles and doubles fields were announced by the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Committees on May 3.
For the men, WAC Champion TCU, the No. 5 seed, and seventh-seed SMU will host first and second round action in Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas, respectively, May 12-13. The Frogs (20-3) face UT-Arlington (17-8), a team they swept 7-0 in the season opener, and could face the winner of the Baylor/Tulane match. At 20-2, SMU will play Oral Roberts (16-7) with a potential match-up against the winner of the Arkansas/North Carolina in the second round.
Both Fresno State and Rice received bids and will play their opening-round matches on the road. The Bulldogs (17-8), who fell 4-2 to TCU in the WAC Championship final, travel to Provo, Utah to battle Wake Forest (14-10), while the Owls (20-8) take on Auburn (13-9) in Durham, N.C.
Individually, six singles players and three doubles teams will compete at NCAAs. All-WAC selection Dane McGregor will represent Tulsa, while WAC Player of the Year Genius Chidzikwe, of SMU will join teammate Jon Wallmark. TCU's top singles players, Esteban Carril, ranked 10th nationally, and Trace Fielding, ranked 43rd, were selected to play in the singles competition. Peter Luczak, who jumped to third in the nation after upsetting both Chidzikwe and Carril at the WAC championship, will represent Fresno State. In doubles action, the Bulldogs' top duo of Luczak and David Mullins will join SMU's tandem of Johan Brunstrom and Wallmark and TCU's Jimmy Haney and Fielding. Seeding for singles and doubles will be announced May 22 from Athens, Ga.
Fresno State, ranked 11th, was selected to host the first two rounds of the women's tournament set for May 12-13. The Bulldogs (20-4) garnered the 11th seed overall and will square off against Cal State Northridge (22-8). A potential second-round match would pit the Bulldogs against No. 30 UCLA or No. 54 Georgia Tech. TCU, fresh from winning the WAC women's championship, is set to face Boise State (20-5), who will join the conference in July, in opening-round action in Austin, Texas. Should TCU (17-3) prevail, the Frogs would face the winner of the 14th-seed Texas/Brigham Young match.
SMU and Tulsa were named the third and fifth team alternates, respectively.
WAC Player of the Year Liesl Fichtbauer and fellow Fresno State senior and All-WAC honoree Kim Niggemeyer were selected to compete as individuals in the singles competition along with All-WAC selection Dee Dee Herring of SMU. Simone Jardim and Niggemeyer were among 32 doubles team selected. The winner from each of the men's 16 first- and second-round sites will advance to the team championship in Athens, Ga., which will take place May 19-22 at the University of Georgia. The women's regional winners will compete for the team championship to be held May 17-20 at the Lincoln Tennis Center in Stone Mountain, Ga.
Thirty-one conferences received automatic qualification into the women's bracket, while 30 men's programs were conference champions. The selections of the teams and individuals for the championships are based on won-lost record, strength of schedule, and eligibility and availability of student-athletes.