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Related Material
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Men's Bracket.pdf
Women's Bracket.pdf
Men's Notes.pdf
Women's Notes.pdf
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WHAT: Men's and Women's Tennis Championship
WHERE: Appleton Tennis Center - Boise, Idaho
Located on the campus of Boise State University.
DATE: Friday-Sunday, April 25-27, 2003
RESULTS: 2003 Championship ResultsSCHEDULE OF EVENTS: See .pdf brackets at top right.
MERCHANDISE: Click here for all your WAC Championship apparel.
MEN'S PREVIEW: The 2003 WAC Tournament begins April 25, with the championship match on Sunday, April 27. This years tournament will be played at the Appleton Tennis Courts on the campus of Boise State. The 2002 champion SMU Mustangs will look to defend their title, but Rice heads into the tournament with the most wins.
Boise State - The Broncos are led by returning all-WAC first teamers, Marcus Berntson and Guillaume Bouvier who have 19 dual wins in 2003. Boise State is 13-7 on the season, including a six-match winning streak in the middle of the season. The tandem of Berntson and Bouvier have been ranked in the ITAs top 50 most of the season.
Fresno State - The Bulldogs picked up the second most wins in the WAC this season, going 16-7. Fresno State won nine of its final ten matches, dropping one to No. 24 Pepperdine. After departing in the first round last season, the Bulldogs are geared for a better championship, looking for good play from Hector Almada, Stefan Suta and Greg Shearer.
Hawaii - The Rainbows have won four of their last six heading to Boise for one final match before the conference tournament. At 14-11, Hawaii had five players with atleast 10 wins in the dual season. Reginaldo Moralejo leads the way for Rainbows with 15 wins, 10 from the No. 3 spot.
Nevada - Nevada suffered an eight-match losing streak early in the year, but finished the season with three wins in four tries. Adam Jooste, Milos Popovic and Jason Yelley have all held down the No. 1 singles spot this season for the Wolf Pack.
Rice - The 28th ranked Owls travel to Boise looking to avenge a semifinal loss to Tulsa in 2002. As the highest ranked team, they also boast the nations top doubles team in William and Richard Barker. The two went 20-0 on the year, 16-0 in dual play. The 19 wins by the Owls are the most in the WAC this year, and the six losses are the least. Having won five of its final six matches, Rice is looking for its first ever WAC title.
SMU - The Mustangs have used a number of line ups this season. Six players have played at atleast four different ladder spots. WAC Freshman of the Year from 2002, Gwinyai Chingoka, posted a team-high 10 wins. SMU has seven wins in its last nine matches, giving them momentum to defend the 2002 title.
Tulsa - The Golden Hurricane finished the season .500 at 12-12 with a pair of upsets wins against North Carolina and Auburn. Dustin Taylor was the only three-time WAC Player of the Week, going 15-5 on the seaosn, picking up seven wins from both the No. 2 and 3 spots.
WOMEN'S PREVIEW: Boise State - The Broncos look to change their recent trends, entering the WAC Championship on a three-match skid. Boise State is one of two teams in the WAC to have six players with double-digit singles wins. Jemima Hayward leads the way with a 7-0 record from the No. 1 singles spot, and eight wins from the No. 2. Although a number two seed in 2002, the Broncos fell to No. 3 SMU in the semifinals, 4-2 of last seasons championship.
Fresno State - The Bulldogs are back to defend their title from 2002 and pick up their third overall. They are led by All-American Chloe Carlotti who is 17-2 this season from the No. 1 singles position. Carlotti has moved all the way to eighth in the ITA rankings, helping Fresno State earn in its 22nd national ranking. With six wins in as many matches to close out the regular season, the Bulldogs are the team to beat in 2003.
Hawaii - The Rainbow Wahine are 10-12 on the season including a seven-match home stand where they picked up five wins. Lauren Fitzgerald, who has played the No. 1 position all season, has 12 wins, which is second on the team. Hawaii rounded out the season playing a quad, falling to WAC foes UTEP and Nevada, but defeating San Jose State for the second time this season.
Louisiana Tech - The Lady Techsters managed a 15-match schedule even with four matches getting cancelled. Anabella Duque was the lone Techsters to reach the 10-win plateau, going 10-4 from mainly the No. 3 spot. In the final match of the year, Louisiana Tech faced its only WAC opponent, falling to SMU.
Nevada - Even though the Wolf Pack only have six wins on the season, three have come against WAC opponents. Nevada has wins against UTEP, San Jose State and Hawaii. The Wolf Pack travels to Boise winning four of their final five. Vania Apodaca, Biljana Trpeska and Ines Zouabi have been strong down the stretch with each player picking up atleast 10 wins this season.
Rice - The Owls have been unable to string together wins, but had a tough 2003 schedule. With matches against Fresno State, Stanford and San Diego State, Rice pickued up eight wins on the season. Lauren Archer, Blair DiSesa and Karen Chao all pitched in at spots one through four, for a combined 35 wins.
San Jose State - The Spartans suffered losses in their only two conference matches this season, falling to Nevada and Hawaii. San Jose State won its first-round match-up last season, but then fell to eventaul champion, Fresno State.
SMU - The Mustangs picked up five conference wins this season to lead the WAC. In winning four of its final five regular-season matches, SMU picked up wins over Tulsa and Rice, looking to return to the finals, matching the success from 2002. Led by stong play from Jenny Langer and Nadia Vaughan, the Mustangs finished the regular season, 18-10.
UTEP - The Miners were led this year by Elisa Bjrklund who went a combined 12-7 in dual play. UTEP finished the season with seven wins, four of which came in the final five matches. During that run, the Miners knocked off Hawaii and Nevada.
Tulsa - The Golden Hurricane, who fell to 2002 Champion Fresno State in the semifinals, travel to Boise with a 13-10 record and the second best ITA ranking in the conference at 47. Tulsa looks to keep with its trend, winning seven on its final nine matches. Senior Alicia Pillay has been ranked among the nations best singles players all season, coming in 26th to lead the Hurricane.