Related Material
|
Weekly Tennis Notes.pdf
|
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK - Dustin Taylor, a junior from Portland, Ore., won two singles matches at the No. 2 position. In his match against Vanderbilts Chad Harris, the nations 14th-ranked player, Taylor won 6-3, 3-6, 7-6. He picked up his second win against New Mexicos Divan Coetzee, 6-1, 6-4. Taylor, along with doubles partner Ryan Livesay, picked up a win against New Mexico from the No. 1 doubles spot. The pair are currently ranked 19th in the nation.
OTHERS NOMINATED - Marcus Berntson of Boise State went 3-0 from the No. 1 singles position, despite the Broncos losing three matches at the Harvard Classic. He also paired up with Guillaume Bouvier to go 2-1 from the top doubles spot ... Hector Almada of Fresno State went 2-0 from both the singles and doubles spot helping the Bulldogs to sweeps of Sacramento State and San Francisco.
NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE Boise State - The Broncos look to rebound this weekend, coming off a 0-3 swing at the Harvard Classic. Boise State travels to west to Eugene to face the Oregon Ducks Feb. 15, then its off to Portland for a battle with the Pilots. Marcus Berntson and Guillaume Bouvier are currently ranked 42nd by ITA in doubles, owning a 8-3 record.
Fresno State - The Bulldogs got back to their winning ways, dropping only one point over the past weekend. Fresno State defeated Sacramento State, 7-0, then cruised past San Francisco, 6-1. Continuing the toughest early-season schedule in the WAC, the Dogs will face their second back-to-back top 10 opponents of the season. Feb. 15 they will face off with No. 7 Stanford, only to face No. 4 Californina, Feb. 16. Fresno State faced No. 1 UCLA and then No. 7 USC earlier in the season.
Hawaii - The Rainbows will finish out their west-coast swing this weekend, taking on Pepperdine, UC Riverside and Loyola Marymount, respectivley, Feb. 13-15. Hawaii, who is 4-4 on the season, had three dual matches at the end of the fall season.
Nevada - The Wolf Pack looks to rebound from their 0-3 start against in state rival, UNLV. Nevada scored only one point while falling to Air Force, Montana State and Denver in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Wolf Pack dont play at home until a battle with Sonoma State, Mar. 28.
Rice - The Owls, who own the higest WAC ITA ranking at No. 35, are perfect on the season at 4-0, not having played in two weeks. Rice travels east to Florida to face some of its toughest competition of the season. Feb. 15 they battle with Florida State, then on Feb. 16, square off with the nations sixth-ranked team, Florida in Gainesville. It will be the first test for the No. 1 ranked duo of William and Richard Barker.
SMU - The 38th ranked Mustangs picked up their second win of the season, beating Oral Roberts, 6-1. SMU (2-3) hosts a double-header Feb. 15, taking on Louisiana-Lafayette and Centenary, before they travel to Tallahassee for a match up with Florida State, Feb. 19.
Tulsa - The Golden Hurricane battled to a pair of 5-2 matches, falling to Vanderbilt, but defeating New Mexico. In the match with Vandy, Dustin Taylor defeated the 14th-ranked Chad Harris, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6. In Tulsas final match of its nine-match home stand, the Hurricane fell to Arkansas, 4-3. They are off this week, preparing for the National Team Indoors in Dallas, Feb. 20.
ITA RANKINGS - SMU is currently ranked 38th in the nation, while Rice moves up to 35th. Tulsa (51), Fresno State (45) and Boise State (73) round out WAC teams in the top 75.
The Rice twin duo of juniors Richard and William Barker started off the 2003 season ranked number one in the country after capturing the 2002 Omni Hotels National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships doubles title in November. It was the first indoor national men's doubles title in Rice history.
Fellow Owl, freshman Robert Searle, is the highest ranked WAC athlete, beginning the season at No. 16 in the nation.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN BOISE This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will be held in Boise, Idaho at the Appleton Tennis Courts on the campus of Boise State, April 25-27. The 2002 champion SMU Mustangs will look to defend their title.