Marquette University Athletics
Marquette to Host Conference USA Tennis Championship
4/1/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
| South Florida won the 2002 Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship in Louisville, Ky. |
MILWAUKEE -- The Marquette men's tennis team and 11 other Conference USA squads will compete for the league's men's tennis championship, April 16-19 at Charles Heyer Park Tennis Center in Waukesha.
The tournament, to be played over a four-day period at the mulit-court Heyer Park, will determine the league's champion and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. South Florida will be defending its league title won in 2002 in Louisville, Ky. The Bulls have won four of the seven previously contested C-USA Championships.
However, the fight for the league title has been hotly contested in recent years. Three different schools, including Tulane and Louisville, have won the C-USA crown. Tulane has won the league title twice, while the Cardinals win was its only league title in men's tennis.
Marquette hopes to have the advantage playing at home. The Golden Eagles finished 11th last season and have a pair sixth place finishes, with the most recent coming in 1997.
"We're looking forward to hosting this tournament," said Marquette head coach David Staniford. "It's a great opportunity to show off our players and the quality of our conference to our home fans."
The league's championship should be competitive. Five Conference USA teams are currently ranked in the ITA National Rakings top 75 as of the March 30 computer rankins. Tulane leads the pack with a national ranking of 16. TCU, a national semifinalist in 2001, is ranked 36th. South Florida, Louisville and Memphis are ranked 48th, 51st and 65th respectively.
Tulane junior Michael Cogan tops the list of nationally ranked singles players to take part in the C-USA Championships. Cogan is currently ranked 23rd by the ITA in its computer rankings released March 26. South Florida's Paco Antelo is ranked 90th by the ITA, and TCU's Toni Gordon is slated 103rd by the service. Three doubles teams are ranked. Kogan and fellow Green Wave player Victor Romero are the sixth ranked doubles tandem in the nation. South Florida's Antelo and Renato Silveira are ranked 20th, Memphis' Ben Stapp and Lee Taylor Walker occupy the 52nd spot in the rankings, while Cody Conley and Octavian Nicodim of Louisville fill the 60th spot in the rankings.
A complete schedule of results will be available on the Marquette athletics website at www.gomarquette.com. as well as on the Conference USA site at www.conferenceusa.com. Results and features will be available on the Marquette site throughout the event. In case of inclement weather, the tournament will be moved to the Helfaer Tennis Stadium on the Marquette campus. Any updates to the tournament schedule as a result of any change of venue will be posted at the site and on the respective websites.
