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Weekly Men's Tennis Notes.pdf
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ATHLETE OF THE WEEKRyan Livesay, a senior from Portland, Ore., won both his only singles and doubles matches last week. He netted one of two singles points in a, 4-3, loss 31st-ranked Arkansas. Livesay netted a comeback win against Razorback Eduardo Pacheco, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. Livesay also notched a win with doubles partner, Dustin Taylor. The pair is currently ranked 19th in the nation.
OTHERS NOMINATED - Richard Barker of Rice remains undefeated from both the No.1 singles and doubles, helping the Owls to a 5-0 record. He defeated Florida States Mat Cloer, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. Along with brother William, he picked up an, 8-1, doubles win ... Gwinyai Chingoka of SMU helped the Mustangs move above .500 with straight-set wins. He won from the No. 1 spot against Louisiana-Lafeyette and from the No. 2 spot against Centenary.
NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE Boise State - The Broncos came back from their pacific swing, 1-1. After falling to Oregon, 7-0, Boise State picked up its third win of the season with a, 4-3, win over Portland. This weekend, they will play host to another Bronco, Santa Clara, and New Mexico.
Fresno State - For the second time this season, the Bulldogs faced back-to-back top-10 opponents. Fresno State suffered two losses, the first coming at the hands of seventh-ranked Stanford, 6-1. It didnt get any easier from there, as the Bulldogs squared off with No. 4 California, falling, 5-2. The Bulldogs look to get back on track at home, hosting Loyola Marymount and UC Santa Cruz.
Hawaii - The Rainbows finished off their eight-match road swing, 4-3, with three of the losses coming in their final four matches. Hawaii picked up wins over Sonoma State, Sacramento State, St. Marys and UC Riverside. The Rainbows are back home for two matches, hosting Hawaii Pacific and Marquette before their final nine on the road.
Nevada - The Wolf Pack picked up their first win of the season, knocking off Weber State, 5-2 in Las Vegas. Nevada then dropped two, falling to in-state rival UNLV, 5-2 and New Mexico State, 7-0. The Wolf Pack, who dont play at home until March 28, travel to Davis, Calif., for their only match of the week against UC Davis.
Rice - The 35th ranked Owls remain undefeated, picking up a, 6-1, win at Florida State. The biggest test of the season for the Owls, sixth-ranked Florida, was cancelled due to rain. Rice hosts UT-Arlington Feb. 22, with a twin bill on the 23rd, against NC State and Louisiana-Monroe.
SMU - The 38th ranked Mustangs moved back above .500, pikcing up a pair of wins over Louisian-Lafeyette and Centenary. SMU travels to Tallahassee for a battle with Florida State, Feb. 19.
Tulsa - The Golden Hurricane has a pair of southern Louisiana schools on the docket, LSU and Tulane. Tulsa has garnered, four the five WAC Player of the Week honors.
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.