Women's Tennis Seeks Third Consecutive C-USA Tournament Championship
Apr 20, 2005 | Women's Tennis
April 20, 2005
NEW ORLEANS, La. - After finishing the regular season with a mark of 20-5, No. 16 Tulane enters postseason play on a 12-match winning streak and as the top seed at the 2005 Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship, April 21-24, at TCU's Bayard H. Freeman Tennis Center.
Winners of three of the last four league titles, including the last two championships, the Green Wave will take the court at noon on Friday against the winner of Thursday's match between the tournament's seventh seed, Charlotte, and 10th-seeded UAB. Saturday's semifinal matches and Sunday's championship match all start at noon, with the champion earning the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
Host TCU, currently ranked No. 17, earned the tournament's second seed and is no stranger to the Green Wave as the two teams have met in each of the last three tournaments, in the semifinals in 2002 and in the last two championship matches. No. 51 USF, No. 74 Houston and DePaul round out the tournament's top five seeds.
"This is always a very tough tournament, and I hope we can live up to our seeding," Tulane head coach David Schumacher said. "We have the potential to win, but there are some very good teams we will have to beat. We already won once at TCU earlier in the season, and if we face them again, beating them will be that much tougher."
Tulane currently has two doubles teams and three singles players ranked in this week's Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll. Junior Jenny Kuehn holds the highest singles ranking for the Wave, checking in at No. 53, and pairs with fellow junior Julie Smekodub to form the nation's No. 35 doubles tandem. Sisters Maria and Darya Ivanov are ranked No. 40 in the doubles poll while senior Nancy Kockott checks in at No. 108 and Maria Ivanov sits at No. 124 in singles.
In addition to the team's 12-match winning streak, Tulane sophomore Darya Ivanov has won 13 consecutive singles contests while the duo of Kuehn and Smekodub has claimed victory in its last 11 doubles matches.
Should Tulane earn a berth in the NCAA Championship, first-round competition will begin on May 13 at 16 different campus sites.
2005 Conference USA Women's Tennis Championship
Bayard H. Freeman Tennis Center - Fort Worth, Texas
Thursday, April 21
(4) Houston vs. (13) Cincinnati - 9 a.m.
(5) DePaul vs. (12) Memphis - 9 a.m.
(3) USF vs. (14) Saint Louis - Noon
(6) Louisville vs. (11) Marquette - Noon
(8) Southern Miss vs. (9) East Carolina - 3 p.m. (7) Charlotte vs. (10) UAB - 3 p.m.
Friday, April 22
Loser DPU/MEM vs. Loser USF/SLU - 9 a.m.
Loser LOU/MAR vs. Loser HOU/CIN - 9 a.m.
(1) Tulane vs. Winner CHA/UAB - Noon
Winner USF/SLU vs. Winner LOU/MAR - Noon
(2) TCU vs. Winner USM/ECU - 3 p.m.
Winner HOU/CIN vs. Winner DPU/MEM - 3 p.m.
Loser CHA/UAB vs. Wiiner of Match 8 - 6 p.m.
Loser USM/ECU vs. Winner of Match 7 - 6 p.m.
Saturday, April 23
Loser Match 9 vs. Loser Match 10 - 9 a.m.
Loser Match 11 vs. Loser Match 12 - 9 a.m.
Winner Match 9 vs. Winner Match 10 - Noon
Winner Match 14 vs. Winner Match 13 - Noon
Winner Match 12 vs. Winner Match 11 - 3 p.m.
Sunday, April 24
Loser Match 17 vs. Loser Match 19 (3rd place) - 9 a.m.
Winner Match 15 vs. Winner Match 16 (5th place) - 9 a.m.
Championship - Noon
Players Mentioned
