Men's Tennis Ranked 16th in Preseason Poll
Jan 14, 2004 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 14, 2004
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University men's tennis team is ranked No. 16 in the nation according to the first spring edition of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Rankings. The Green Wave was ranked No. 14 in last year's final ratings.
In addition to the team ranking, Tulane has two players ranked in singles and doubles. Senior Michael Kogan, the three-time Player of the Year in Conference USA and a two-time All-American, is ranked No. 8 in singles, while junior Dmitriy Koch holds the No. 37 ranking. The pair team up to form the No. 39 rated doubles team in the nation.
"This is nothing new for Michael, he has established himself as one of the best players in college tennis," Tulane coach Robert Klein said. "I think he will continue to improve. Dmitriy had a great fall and his ranking may have been higher if it was not for injury. We have provided these two guys a very deep supporting cast and we are excited about the upcoming season. We are a lot more than these two players. We are all excited about the TEAM potential this year."
Kogan has been one of the top players in the nation since his arrival at Tulane in 2000. He has posted a 97-23 record in singles play in his career and has twice earned All-America recognition in singles play. Also a two-time All-American in doubles, Kogan has an impressive career mark of 80-13 in pairs play. Koch recorded a 16-5 record last spring in singles and this fall he was 8-3, including becoming the first Green Wave to advance to the finals of the Region III Championships.
Despite having not played an official match together, Kogan and Koch are highly-rated in doubles as well. Kogan's doubles All-American honors have come with two different partners: Mikko Viljanen in 2001 and Victor Romero last year.
Tulane, which won the 2003 Conference USA Championship, opens its spring season on Jan. 24th and 25th, hosting San Diego and Wichita State at the Goldring Tennis Complex on the Tulane campus.
Players Mentioned
