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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK - SMUs Johan Brunstrom has been named the Western Athletic Conference mens tennis Player of the Week. This is Brunstroms third Player of the Week honor this spring.
Brunstrom, a senior from Uddevalla, Sweden, defeated the nation's No. 10 ranked player on April 15 when the No. 31 SMU men's tennis team took on No. 2 ranked Baylor in Waco, Texas. Brunstrom defeated Baylor's No. 1 player Benjamin Becker, 6-2, 6-4, easily handling the nation's No. 10 player. It marked the second time in a month that Brunstrom knocked off top 10 singles player, both against Baylor. On March 10, Brunstrom downed Baylor's Benedikt Dorsch, who was ranked No. 1 in the nation at the time. The win for Brunstrom halted Becker's win streak at 12.
OTHERS NOMINATED Charles Irie, Fresno State and Robert Searle, Rice.
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.
NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE
Boise State - The Boise State men's tennis team defeated the University of Idaho Sunday morning, 7-0, at the Appleton Tennis Center. The Boise State men's tennis team then defeated the University of Portland by a score of 6-1. Boise State now has a week off before the WAC Tournament (April 29-May 2 in Houston).
Fresno State - Fresno State, 13-8, completed its regular season last weekend in successful style. They knocked off No. 71 UC Irvine on Saturday and then Pacific on Sunday.
The Bulldogs wrapped up the regular season in style last weekend with two victories. On Saturday, Fresno State took out UC Irvine 5-2 behind strong performances by Nos. 4-6 singles, which each won. One day later, the Bulldogs played their most dramatic match of the season in topping Pacific 4-3. Charles Irie overcame fatigue, cramps and a game Vladimir Zdravkovic to win 7-6 (2), 4-6, 7-5 in the clinching match at No. 4 singles. It marked only the third time this year Fresno State lost the doubles point in a match but still rebounded to win.
Hawaii - Hawai'i concluded its regular season home schedule with a 7-0 loss to inner-city rival, Hawai'i Pacific, the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II, Friday afternoon, at the Central Oahu Tennis Complex. The Rainbow Warriors, who earlier this week lost to the top-ranked NAIA team, Azusa Pacific, dropped to 8-14 on the year. HPU posted its fifth consecutive victory over Hawaii in the friendly series by winning all six singles matches and two of the three doubles contests, which earned them the doubles point. The Sea Warriors improved to a perfect 21-0. It was all HPU in the singles matches, as five of the six matches were decided in straight sets. Ryan Sceats lost a highly competitive match, which featured a marathon second set tie-break, to Maatta at the No. 2 court but fell, 6-4, 7-6 (12). Bryon Weinberg extended his match with Jaross to a third set but lost the super-tiebreaker, 6-1, 3-6, (10-7).
Nevada - Nevada added a home match this week. Nevada will face Idaho State on Friday, April 23. The Wolf Pack are having the most successful season since the 1996-97 team that finished 11-9. The team is holding at 9-11 with the opportunity to give head coach Ryan Johnston his first 10-win season since taking over the program in 1998. ISU men's squad is also looking to break 10 wins, at 9-6 for the year. The match will be the final of the regular season.
Rice - The 12th-ranked Rice men secured their second consecutive 20-win season on Sunday, defeating 31st-ranked Southern Methodist 4-3 in Dallas in the Owls' regular season finale. SMU stepped up in singles, scoring victories at four, five and six, but the Owls' top trio stayed strong to secure the Rice win. Searle, ranked 41st, was pushed to a third set by 61st-ranked Brunstrom, but took the match 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. William Barker, ranked 43rd, swept Soderberg 7-6, 6-3 at number two, and Richard Barker beat Chingoka 6-4, 6-4 at number three for the final team score. The Owls return to action in two weeks when they host the 2004 WAC Tennis Championships at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium April 30-May 2.
SMU - The SMU men's tennis team improved to 15-10 defeating UTA at Haggar Tennis Stadium by the score of 5-2. The Mustangs will face the University of Texas Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in the team's final home match for the 2004 season. The win marked the eighth straight year SMU has won 15 dual matches or more on the season. SMU came out of the blocks hot against UTA, winning all three doubles matches. Johan Brunstrom and Henrik Soderberg improved their doubles record to 12-6 on the year with an 8-4 win at No. 1 doubles. Peter Oredsson and Federico Murgier won 8-2 at No. 2 doubles, while Gwinyai Chingoka and Alex Skrypko were victorious at No. 3 doubles, 8-2. The three doubles wins gave the Mustangs an 1-0 lead heading to singles play. In singles, SMU won four of six matches to secure the victory, led by reigning WAC Player of the Week Brunstrom. Brunstrom, playing at the No. 1 slot, easily defeated his UTA counterpart, 6-3, 6-0. Soderberg picked up his 10th win of the year with a 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 2 singles.
Tulsa - Tulsa's 60th-ranked men's tennis team will host the University of Central Oklahoma and Texas Southern, beginning at 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., respectively, on Saturday, April 24th. The Golden Hurricane, led by 100th-ranked Dustin Taylor, 102nd-ranked Alejandro Tejerina and the 40th-ranked doubles tandem of Taylor and Tejerina, owns a 10-13 mark on the season, falling to 12 top-30 teams. Tulsa owns a 10-7 record at home this season. Central Oklahoma (6-10), a Division II school, has posted a 6-10 mark this season. The Broncos own a No. 8 regional team ranking, while Greg Leseuer has a No. 9 regional singles mark and Mouchine Guettabi is No. 11. The duo also tallied a No. 7 regional doubles ranking. Texas Southern owns a 3-3 mark this season, including a 2-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference record.
ITA RANKINGS - Rice is the highest ranked WAC team in the most recent ITA rankings. The Owls remain No. 12. This week, SMU is No. 37, while Boise State fell to No. 41. Rounding out the top 60 is Fresno State at No. 46 and Tulsa and No. 60. The Rice twin duo of Richard and William Barker are currently ranked No. 1 back up from No. 6 on April 6.
NATIONAL TEAM INDOORS - Tulsa and Boise State played at the ITA/USTA National Team Indoor Championship in Seattle, Wash. This was Tulsas first trip to the national indoor tournament. Both schools went 0-3 at the prestigious tournament. Defending NCAA Champion, Illinois, repeated as ITA/USTA National Team Indoor Champions. Tulsa lost to Illinois in the first round, 4-0.