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Men's Tennis Tournament Notes

WAC MENS TENNIS NOTEBOOK

BOISE STATE, RICE AND SMU ADVANCE TO NCAA TOURNAMENT - Boise State, Rice and SMU advanced to the 2005 Men's Tennis Tournament. Boise State, ranked 31st nationally and the 2005 WAC Champions, will host 2005 NCAA Tournament First and Second Round Matches.

On Friday, May 13, No. 16 Texas A&M (15-8) will play No. 68 Montana State (19-6) at 2:30 p.m. No. 31 Boise State (30-7) will play No. 34 North Carolina(16-10) at 5:30 p.m.

The 37th-ranked Rice men's tennis team will be heading to Waco to face 29th-ranked Texas in the first round of the NCAA championships to be played on Friday, May 13 at 3:00 pm. This marks the fourth time in five years that the Owls have received a bid to the NCAA championships. Last year, Rice advanced to the round of 16 for the first time in school history before losing to eventual national champion Baylor.

The Mustangs, 15-12, face USC (11-12) Friday, May 13 at 10:00 a.m. PT at Bill Quillian Stadium on the campus of the University of Washington in first-round action. Host and No. 15 seed Washington (18-4) takes on Oral Roberts (13-12) immediately following the SMU-USC match. Fridays winners will face off against each other on Saturday, May 14 at 2:00 p.m. PT in the regional final. This marks the ninth consecutive season in which SMU earned an NCAA postseason bid. The last time SMU faced USC in NCAA postseason play was in 1985 as the Mustangs fell to USC, 5-2, in the semifinals.

The winners match will go on the the NCAA National Championship (Sweet 16) in College Station, Texas, on the Texas A&M campus.

WAC PLAYERS EARN REGIONAL HONORS - Several WAC tennis players were honored by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). Tulsas Will Gray earned the Central Regions ITA Rookie of the Year award, while Luke Shields earned the same honor in the Mountain Region. Rices Robert Searle and Boise States Beck Roghaar earned the Arthur Ashe Awards for the South Central and Mountain Regions, respectively.

WAC Freshman of the Year, Luke Shields also garnered Rookie of the Year honors for the Mountain Region. Shields, who also earned first team all-WAC honors in singles and doubles, has won 29 singles matches this season. Tulsas Will Gray was the Central Region Rookie of the Year. Gray recorded a 30-9 record in his first year of collegiate competition. His 30 wins put him in a three-way tie for fourth place on the school's single season wins list with Louie Pranic (1994-95) and Nenad Toroman (1997-98).

CHAMPIONSHIP REVIEW Boise State won its second WAC title, defeating Rice, 4-3, at the Hawaii Tennis Complex in Honolulu. The Broncos used all of four and half hours to earn the win, when Eric Roberson won in the third set at No. 5 singles, clinching the match. Boise State won its first WAC title in 2003.

The title match featured the past two champions as second-seeded Rice came into the tournament as the defending champions. The teams battled it out in doubles play. Boise State took the No. 2 court as Ikaika Jobe and Matias Silva defeated Tony Haerle and Filip Zivojinovic, 8-5. The Owls answered back with a win at No. 3 as Gabriel and Jason Mok upended Roberson and Brent Werbeck, 9-7. The match came down to the No. 1 court as BSU's Luke Shields and Thomas Schoeck edged Robert Searle and Ben Harknett, 9-7.

2005 POST-SEASON HONORS

First-Team all-WAC
Singles
Luke Shields, Boise State
Thomas Schoeck, Boise State
Jakub Cech, Fresno State
Robert Searle, Rice
Paul McNaughton, SMU
Ricardo Soriano, Tulsa
Doubles
Luke Shields/Thomas Schoeck, Boise State
Robert Searle/Ben Harknett, Rice
Paul McNaughton/Federico Murgier, Rice

Second-Team all-WAC
Singles
Matias Silva, Boise State
Charles Irie, Fresno State
Adam Jooste, Nevada
Tony Haerle, Rice
Ben Harknett, Rice
Bwunyai Chingoka, SMU

Doubles
Jakub Cech/Sergiu Modoc, Fresno State
Adam Jooste/Milos Popovic, Nevada
Tony Haerle/Filip Zivojinovic, Rice
Andy Connelly/Diego Camacho, Tulsa

Player of the Year:
Robert Searle, Jr., Rice

Freshman of the Year:
Luke Shields, Boise State

Coach of the Year:
Greg Patton, Boise State

Boise State Broncos
Boise State, ranked 31st nationally and the 2005 WAC Champions, will host 2005 NCAA Tournament First and Second Round Matches, Friday-Saturday, May 13-14, on the Boise State campus. The Broncos will be hosting 16th ranked Texas A&M, 34th ranked North Carolina and 68th ranked Montana State. On Friday, May 13, No. 16 Texas A&M (15-8 overall) will play No. 68 Montana State (19-6 overall) at 2:30 p.m., then No. 31 Boise State (30-7 overall) will play No. 34 North Carolina (16-10) at 5:30 p.m.

Rice Owls
The 37th-ranked Rice men's tennis team will be head to Waco to face 29th-ranked Texas in the first round of the NCAA championships to be played on Friday, May 13 at 3:00 pm. This marks the fourth time in five years that the Owls have received a bid to the NCAA championships. Last year, Rice advanced to the round of 16 for the first time in school history before losing to eventual national champion Baylor. The Owls finished the regular season 15-9 and advanced to the finals of the 2005 WAC Championships.

SMU Mustangs
No. 44 SMU (15-12) will head to Seattle to face No. 21 USC (11-12) on Friday, May 13, at 10 a.m. PT in first-round action of the 2005 NCAA Mens Tennis Championships at Bill Quillian Stadium on the campus of the University of Washington. This marks the ninth consecutive season in which SMU has earned an NCAA postseason bid. SMU received strong performances all year from its doubles teams, as evidenced by the duo of Paul McNaughton and Federico Murgier, who are currently ranked No. 46 in the latest ITA rankings.