THREE WAC TEAMS TO COMPETE IN NCAA TOURNAMENT
Three WAC men’s tennis teams will be among the field competing in the 2010 NCAA Men’s Team Championships. Boise State, Fresno State and Hawai`i are three of the 64 teams competing in the single-elimination championship.
The No. 42-ranked Broncos will head to the campus of the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga., for the first and second rounds of the tournament. The Broncos (19-11) will face No. 29 Florida State at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 15, in their first round match. Boise State is making its sixth-consecutive and 15th overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
No. 28 Fresno State (18-9) travels to Los Angeles to face 34th-ranked Brigham Young (21-6) at 10 a.m. Friday, May 14, in a first-round match on the campus of Southern California. The other two teams at that site are Marist (14-5) and No. 5 USC (19-3).
Hawai`i travels to Palo Alto, Calif., to face No. 21 Pepperdine (16-10) at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 15, on the campus of Stanford. The Rainbow Warriors (12-7) are making their third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. On the other half of the bracket, No. 7 Stanford (18-5) hosts Quinnipiac (10-4) in its first round match.
The 2010 Division I NCAA Tennis Championship first and second rounds will be held May 14-15 at 16 various sites. The championship finals will be held May 20-25 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga., hosted by the University of Georgia.
THREE WAC PLAYERS TO COMPETE IN NCAA INDIVIDUALS
The WAC had one singles player and one doubles team selected to compete in the NCAA Individual Championships. In singles, Boise State’s James Meredith, the WAC Player of the Year who is currently ranked 55th nationally, was the WAC’s automatic qualifier. In doubles, Fresno State’s Rikus de Villiers and Remi Boutillier, who are currently ranked No. 23, received the WAC’s automatic qualifier.
HAWAI’I CLAIMS WAC TOURNAMENT TITLE
After defeating fifth-seeded Idaho in the quarterfinals, No. 1-seed Hawai`i won its third straight WAC Tournament title with a thrilling 4-3 win over second-seed and host Fresno State at the Spalding G. Wathen Tennis Center. UH got the upper hand early by winning the doubles point as the duos of Dennis Lajola and Daniel Llarenas on the No. 2 court and Jeremy Tweedt and Leo Rosenberg on the No. 3 court picked up wins. Fresno State took a 3-1 lead after three straight singles wins at the No. 2, 5 and 6 courts. But Lajola and Rosenberg knotted the score at 3-3, both with straight-set wins. That set the stage for the deciding match on the No. 4 court. Tejesvi Veerepalli dropped the first set to Tweedt by a 6-3 count, but came back to take the second set, 6-4. Down 4-1 in the third and final set, Tweedt reeled off five straight games to clinch the title.
WAC All-Tournament Team
Doubles
James Meredith/Jeff Mullen, Boise State
Remi Boutillier/Rikus de Villiers, Fresno State
Philipp Eberhard/Andreas Weber, Hawai’i
Singles
Vicente Joli, Boise State
James Meredith, Boise State
Remi Boutillier, Fresno State
Mirko Zapletal, Fresno State
Dennis Lajola, Hawai’i
Leo Rosenberg, Hawai’i
WAC AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
The WAC 2010 men’s tennis award winners, as selected by the league’s head coaches, were announced at the WAC Tennis Tournament banquet. Boise State’s James Meredith was named WAC Player of the Year, while teammate Filipp Pogostkin was selected as Freshman of the Year. Hawai’i head coach John Nelson earned Coach of the Year honors.
Meredith, who is currently ranked No. 47 nationally, posted a 24-7 mark this season at No. 1 singles. He went a perfect 5-0 in WAC play and was 9-3 on the year vs. ranked opponents. He spent the entire season ranked nationally by the ITA. Meredith was also steady in doubles, as he played at No. 1 in every dual for Boise State, despite playing with six different partners throughout the season.
Pogostkin went 23-13 on the year, playing primarily Nos. 3 and 4 singles. He was second on the team in dual matches played and first in total matches played, dating back to last fall.
Nelson led his team to a share of the WAC regular-season title with a 4-1 record. The Rainbow Warriors posted a 10-7 overall record and earned the top seed in this week’s WAC Tournament. This is the second time he has earned the honor during his career.
2010 WAC Men’s Tennis Award Winners
First Team All-WAC Singles
Wessim Derbel, Nevada
Laurent Garcin, Nevada
Vicente Joli, Boise State
Dennis Lajola, Hawai’i
James Meredith, Boise State
Andreas Weber, Hawai’i
First Team All-WAC Doubles
Remi Boutillier/Rikus de Villiers, Fresno State
Philip Eberhard/Andreas Weber, Hawai’i
James Meredith/Jeff Mullen, Boise State
Second Team All-WAC Singles
Jim Brouleau, New Mexico State
Remi Boutillier, Fresno State
Rikus de Villiers, Fresno State
Lachlan Reed, Idaho
Leo Rosenberg, Hawai’i
Mirko Zapletal, Fresno State
Second Team All-WAC Doubles
Jim Brouleau/Orlando Superlano, New Mexico State
Vicente Joli/Filipp Pogostkin, Boise State
Lachlan Reed/Adrian Simon, Idaho
WAC Player of the Year: James Meredith, Boise State
WAC Freshman of the Year: Filipp Pogostkin, Boise State
WAC Coach of the Year: John Nelson, Hawai’i
WAC IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
In the May 3 ITA team rankings, the WAC has five teams ranked in the top 75. Fresno State leads the way at No. 28, followed by Hawai`i at No. 37, Boise State at No. 42, New Mexico State at No. 64 and Idaho at No. 69.
Individually, Boise State’s James Meredith is ranked No. 55, while Dennis Lajola of Hawai’i is No. 113.
In doubles, the WAC has two ranked teams. Fresno State’s Rikus de Villiers and Remi Boutillier are No. 23, while Hawai`i’s Philipp Eberhard and Andreas Weber are No. 78.