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Men's Tennis Release
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WAC MENS TENNIS NOTEBOOK
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK - SMUs David Kuczer was named WAC Mens Tennis Player of the Week for the March 21. This is the first honor of the season for Kuezer.
David Kuczer, freshman from Szcecin, Poland, went 2-0 at the No. 5 spot last week against Columbia and Cal. He defeated Jared Drucker of Columbia 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 to help clinch the match for SMU. On Sunday against Cal, he picked up the only SMU point, winning 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (12-10) over Tyler Browne. He and partner Gwinyai Chingoka notched one doubles win last week, to move to 9-2 at the No. 3 doubles line. Kuczer is 5-0 at the No. 5 singles spot. SMU improves to 9-6 on the season.
Also Nominated: Fresno States Jakub Cech, along with partner Sergiu Modoc, combined to help Fresno State claim the doubles point against 23rd-ranked Texas Tech on Sunday. Their 8-6 win at No. 1 doubles gave the Bulldogs a short-lived 1-0 lead in a match they eventually lost 5-1 ... Tulsas Diego Camacho won his singles match at the No. 6 position against Tulane. He and Andy Connelly won their 14th doubles match against Tulane.
NEUFELD DEFEATS NEUFELD SMU head coach Carl Neufeld and his Mustangs defeated his brother, Hans, and his Illinois-Chicago Flames, 7-0. This milestone comes just weeks after Neufeld earned his 400th career win. Neufelds career record stands at 402-201 overall and 221-97 at SMU.
NOTES FROM AROUND THE LEAGUE
Boise State is currently hosting the Boise State Red Lion Invitational. The Broncos have defeated Whitman and New Mexico State. Boise State will take on Santa Fe on Friday. Schools participating in the tournament include: Ball State, Bradley, BYU, Cal Poly (SLO), Central Florida, Gonzaga, Lewis-Clark St, Marquette, Montana St (Billings), Nebraska, NAU, Texas A&M (Corpus), New Mexico State, Wichita State and Whitman.
Fresno State fell to No. 14 Clemson 4-3 at the Wathen Tennis Center in a match that spanned two days and featured two rain delays and a suspension of play due to darkness. As the proceedings resumed Thursday morning, the Bulldogs (8-6) needed only to win two of the remaining four singles matches to pull the upset. Each team led in one match while the other two were just beginning their third sets. Fresno State doesn't return to action until April 2 when the team hosts 51st-ranked Brown at 2 p.m. at the Wathen Tennis Center. The Bulldogs who are in the midst of a four-match losing streak wrap up their season-long five-match homestand April 3 against Pacific.
Hawaii swept Xavier, 7-0 at the UH Tennis Complex. The Rainbow Warriors won all three doubles and six singles matches to improve to 6-10 this season. Junior Bryon Weinberg led the way for the Warriors in singles play, defeating Justin Yeager, 7-5, 6-1, at the No. 2 court for his fourth consecutive victory. Junior Ryan Sceats won his 10th straight match with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Rob Simpson at No. 3. In other action, senior Jarrod Diepraam pulled out a 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (10-4) super-tiebreaker win over Brian Schubert at No. 4. The Rainbow Warriors return to competition with matches at San Diego, April 8 and UC Irvine, April 11.
With a 7-0 loss to the College of Santa Fe on March 4 at the New Mexico State Tennis Center, Nevada evened out to 4-4 on the season. The loss is the first time this season that Nevada has given up a shutout to an opponent. Santa Fe improved on its perfect season, bumping up to 5-0 while boasting four of the International Tennis Association's top-15 NAIA ranked individuals. An independent, Santa Fe as a team is currently ranked third.
Middle Tennessee State, ranked 42nd, upset then-26th-ranked Rice, 4-3, to win the Hilton Houston Plaza Rice Invitational on March 20. The Blue Raiders defeated Louisiana-Lafayette 5-2 on Saturday to go 2-0 for the weekend. The Owls and the Ragin' Cajuns did not play. In the final match of the day, the 42nd-ranked Searle appeared to have the upper hand against Andreas Siljestrom, ranked 55th, as he was up 5-1 in the second set. Siljestrom would not surrender, though, and won six straight games to force a third set. Searle would not be denied and won 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 to improve to 13-1 at the top singles position this spring. The loss drops the Owls' record to 9-5 on the year. Rice returns to action on April 1, hosting Texas Christian at 2 pm and Lamar at 5 pm at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.
SMU defeated the Illinois-Chicago Flames on March 23, 7-0, at Haggar Tennis Stadium. The Mustangs came out strong and swept the doubles matches to gain the early advantage. They were just as dominant in singles, cruising to the easy win to give head coach Carl Neufled bragging rights over his younger brother, UIC head coach Hans Neufeld. SMU improves to 10-6 with the win. In singles, SMU had only one match forced into a third set. WAC player of the week Kuezer kept his un-blemished record at the No. 5 singles spot, improving to 5-0 with his 6-4, 6-4 win over Eric Fey. Elliot Engberg also remained undefeated at the No. 4 position, winning in straight sets over Andy Lockhart 6-4, 7-6 and is now 3-0. SMU is 11-6 in Nos. 3-6 singles in dual matches this season. The Mustangs return to the court Sun., Mar 27, when they host Tulane.
Tulsa The No. 48-ranked Tulsa men's tennis team dropped its third straight match, losing to No. 17-ranked Texas A&M, 7-0, Tuesday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas. In singles action, Texas A&M blanked the Golden Hurricane in singles action, with TU winning only two sets of the 14 played. Two of the top positions on the ladder included two ranked players for A&M. Achim Roth lost to No. 12-ranked Jerry Makowski, 7-6(4) and 6-4. No. 85 Brian Wooten defeated Ricardo Soriano, 6-2, 6-4. Freshman Will Gray was denied his 26th win of the season as he lost to Brett Joelson, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1. TU has lost seven of its last nine matches, putting its record at 11-8. They will return to action Wednesday, March 30 against No. 71 Arkansas at 6 p.m.
ITA RANKINGS - Boise State is the highest ranked WAC team in the most recent ITA rankings. This week, the Broncos are No. 31. Rice is now No. 32, while SMU is No. 44. Rounding out the top 50 is Tulsa at No. 48.
WAC TOURNAMENT TO BE HELD IN HONOLULU This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will be held in Honolulu, Hawaii on the campus of the University of Hawaii, April 21-24. The 2004 champion, Rice, will look to defend its title.