Tulane University
Memphis (C-USA)
![Freshman Alberto Sottocorno has won two straight matches int he Conference USA Tournament. [File photo by Ned Dishman]](https://images.sidearmdev.com/resize?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net%2Fsidearm.nextgen.sites%2Ftulanegreenwave.com%2Fimages%2F2004%2F4%2F17%2Fa-sottocorno040704.jpg&height=300&type=webp)
Newcomers Again Lift Tulane Men's Tennis
Apr 17, 2004 | Men's Tennis
April 17, 2004
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane men's tennis team had a major question mark entering the 2004 season: how would a proliferation of newcomers impact the lineup? On Saturday afternoon in the Conference USA Semifinals, the newcomers answered the call for the second day in a row, lifting the Green Wave to a 4-0 victory over host Memphis.
Sophomore transfer Jacobo Hernandez and freshmen Ted Angelinos and Alberto Sottocorno were each winners in singles on Saturday to carry Tulane (17-4) to the finals of the C-USA Tournament for the fourth straight year. The second seed Green Wave, ranked No. 18 in the country, will battle TCU, the tournament's top seed and the 17th-ranked team in the nation, on Sunday beginning at 11 a.m.
"It is good to see our new guys winning; you want them feeling good about their tennis going into the finals," Tulane coach Robert Klein said. "The freshmen don't have a championship; they have to go out and earn one. The older guys have been there before; they know what it's about. We're optimistic that the combination will help. We're not playing our best, but we're playing well. It's going to be a great match."
In Friday's quarterfinal victory over East Carolina, it was also Hernandez, Angelinos and Sottocorno earning the wins.
Klein goes into Sunday's Championship match with 199 career victories. He recorded 25 wins in three years at Northern Arizona to open his career and now has 174 wins in 11 years at the helm of the Green Wave program.
For the first time in his career, Green Wave senior All-American Michael Kogan has not been forced to carry the Green Wave in the league tournament. In his first three years for the Olive and Blue, Kogan had recorded an 8-1 record in singles and a perfect 9-0 mark in doubles in C-USA Tourney play. His matches had always factored into the Wave's results. This year, his young teammates have closed out the first two matches before the Wave's all-time win-leader could complete a singles match.
Kogan and freshman David Goulet did crack the win column on Saturday as the 35th-ranked doubles tandem in the country edged Memphis' No. 1 squad, 9-8, to clinch the doubles point and a 1-0 lead. Dmitriy Koch and Hernandez had an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles.
In singles action, Sottocorno was again the first player done, closing out Alex Jago at No. 6 singles, 6-1, 6-3. At No. 5 singles, Hernandez won his sixth straight match, topping Memphis' Mark Finnegan, 6-1, 6-2.
Tulane's No. 2 player, 79th-ranked Dmitriy Koch held match point in his contest with James Spence, but it was Angelinos edging his foe, 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3 to close out the afternoon for the Wave.
The winner of Sunday's championship match will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Tulane is hoping for its eighth straight trip to the NCAAs. The loser of the match is expected to earn an at-large bid to the tourney.
No. 18 Tulane 4, Memphis 0
Doubles:
1) #35 Kogan/Goulet (TU) def. Walker/Spence (UM): 9-8
2) Bucewicz/Tamla (TU) def. Sottocorno/Vasiljevic (TU): 8-5
3) Koch/Hernandez (TU) def. Campbell/Jago (UM): 8-4
Singles:
1) #13 Michael Kogan (TU) v. Lee Taylor Walker (UM): 6-2, 4-5, Did not finish
2) #79 Dmitriy Koch (TU) v. James Spence (UM): 6-0, 5-2, Did not finish
3) Ted Angelinos (TU) def. Alex Bucewicz (UM): 6-4, 6-2
4) David Goulet (TU) v. Marten Tamla (UM): 7-6, 1-0, Did not finish
5) Jacobo Hernandez (TU) def. Mark Finnegan (UM): 6-1, 6-2
6) Alberto Sottocorno (TU) def. Alex Jago (UM): 6-1, 6-3
