WAC PLAYER OF THE MONTH Hawai'i's Jarod Diepraam has been named November's Western Athletic Conference men's tennis player of the month.
Diepraam, a junior from Johannesburg, South Africa, defeated Stanford's Chris Rasmussen, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (10-8) at No. 4 singles. Diepraam finished with a 10-15 record last season, playing mainly at No. 6 singles. In doubles, Ryan Sceats and Diepraam partnered for a 12-11 record at No. 2 doubles this fall.
OTHERS NOMINATED Rice's Robert Searle received an at-large singles bid to the ITA Indoor Championships. The sophomore upset seventh-seeded Jesse Witten of Kentucky 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 in the opening round of the ITA Indoor Championships. He also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-1 victory against Nathan Thompson of Clemson.
BOISE STATE DEFEATS NEW MEXICO TO ADVANCE TO INDOOR NATIONALS The Boise State men's tennis team defeated New Mexico in the Championship Match of the Mountain Region Indoor Championship Saturday, 4-2, in the Boas Indoor Tennis Center. The Broncos will be one of 16 teams to advance to the national tournament, which will be held at the University of Washington, Feb., 5-7.
The Broncos had to come from behind for the victory after New Mexico the doubles point. The Lobos David Kowalski and Ryan Stotland defeated Guillaume Bouvier and Thomas Schoeck at the first doubles position, 8-5. The Broncos' Nils Klemann and James Ludlow won at the third spot, 8-4, over Henry Gers and Jasmin Hodzic, but UNM's Divan Coetzee and Hiroud Akhavan defeated Mahmoud Rezk and Matias Silva for the second spot, 8-6, to decided the doubles point
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN HOUSTON This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will be held in Houston, Texas at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium on the campus of Rice University, April 30-May 2. The 2003 champion, Boise State, will look to defend its title.
TULSA DEFEATS ARKANSAS IN REGION V QUALIFIER The second-seeded Tulsa men's tennis team upended top-seeded Arkansas, 4-2, at the 2003 Region V Team Qualifier hosted by Arkansas at the Dills Indoor Tennis Center in Fayetteville.
TU qualifies for a position in the ITA National Indoors on February 5, 2004, representing one of the top-16 teams in the nation. Eight teams qualify through winning regional qualifiers and eight more will receive automatic bids according to their national ranking.
BOISE STATE'S GREG PATTON NATIONAL WINNER Boise State mens tennis coach Greg Patton is the national winner of the USTA/ITA Community Service Award. He will be honored on December 12 at the ITA Coaches Convention at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, during the ITA General Membership Meeting.
Patton has been involved in numerous activities benefiting the Boise area, Idaho Tennis Association and USTA Intermountain Section. Some of the events Patton has been involved with this past year that benefited area youth were: the Southern Idaho Junior High School Clinic, involving over 300 players from ten junior high schools in the Boise area; the Idaho High School Leadership Conference, as the key note speaker; and the Junior Clinic/Games at the USTA Intermountain Labor Day Sectional Tournament in Boise. He also conducted several clinics and workshops for local junior players, the Corporate League of Idaho and area junior high and high school coaches.
AMONG THE NATIONS BEST Two WAC doubles team start the 2003 season ranked in the top 10. Richard and William Barker from Rice once again are ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Barker brothers were the ITAs Doubles Team of the Year last season. Fresno States Hector Almada and Sergui Modoc are ranked No. 6 to start the season. In singles, the highest ranked WAC player is 14th ranked Robert Searle, the 2003 WAC Freshman of the Year.