Tennis Teams to Represent Tulane in NCAA Tournament
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May 3, 2001
NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane University men's and women's tennis teams will be in action next weekend in the first round of the NCAA Tournaments, the NCAA announced Thursday. Tulane's men will play Baylor while the women open play against Texas A&M. Both matches will be Saturday, May 12.
Click here for men's release.
Click here for women's release.
The men travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to meet the No. 30-ranked Baylor Bears on Saturday. The winner of that match will play on Sunday against the winner of the match between host Texas Christian and Texas-Arlington. Tulane lost to both Baylor and TCU earlier this season, both by 4-3 scores. TCU is ranked No. 4 in the nation. The winner of that match advances to the final 16 to be played at the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga.
Tulane's women will travel to South Bend, Ind., to play No. 16 Texas A&M on Saturday, May 12. If the Wave wins its opening round match, it will move on to play the winner of the contest between host Notre Dame and Eastern Michigan on Sunday. Notre Dame is ranked No. 8 in the nation. The final 16 for the women's tournament will be held at the Lincoln Tennis Center in Stone Mountain, Ga.
The Green Wave men are ranked No. 39 in the nation and own a 15-8 record and an eight-match winning streak entering the tournament. It is the Wave's fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, all under coach Robert Klein, this year's Conference USA Coach of the Year.
Tulane earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tourney by winning the C-USA Championship last weekend. The Wave topped three nationally-ranked foes, including top seed South Florida in the title match.
The Tulane women, meanwhile, have a 13-10 record, and the No. 51 ranking in the nation. They will be making their second trip to the NCAAs in the last three years. Head coach David Schumacher, the Conference USA Coach of the Year, guided his program to the C-USA Championship last weekend in Hattiesburg, Miss., upsetting top seeded UAB in the title match to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
In addition to the team bids awarded to Tulane, the Wave also had individuals selected for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. For the men, freshman Michael Kogan (Kfar-Saba, Israel) will compete in the singles tournament, while Kogan and senior Mikko Viljanen (Vantaa, Finland) have been accepted into the doubles championship field. Kogan is ranked No. 38 in singles, while he and Viljanen have the No. 12 ranking in doubles. On the women's side, senior Anna Monhartova (Plzen, Czech Republic) will compete in the singles field. She is ranked No. 22 in the nation.
