Men's Tennis Earns National Recognition

Jan. 10, 2007

MILWAUKEE, WIS - Junior Brett Binkley and freshman Mark Rutherford will start the 2007 dual match season ranked No. 31 in doubles by the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings announced Tuesday, January 9. This is the first national ranking for the Golden Eagles in head coach Steve Rodecap's tenure.

The duo posted a 10-1 fall record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA Midwest Regional where they lost to Ohio State's duo of Drew Eberly and Justin Kronauge. "I think it's a good accomplishment for those guys," said head coach Steve Rodecap. "They worked hard and deserve to be there. It's a starting point for our program and I expect players to be on both the singles and doubles lists in the future. This will only lead to bigger and better things."

Binkley and Rutherford earn the third highest doubles ranking in the BIG EAST with Notre Dame's Ryan Keckley and Sheeva Parbhu coming in at No. 11 and Louisville's Slavko Radman and Damar Johnson at No. 24.

Most notably, the pair also ranks ahead of 2006 singles champion Benjamin Kohlloeffel and his doubles partner Chris Surapol, who are 44th in the latest rankings.

Binkley, a junior out of Lenexa, Kansas, tallied a 17-17 singles record in 2005-06, leading the team with the most victories. He earned a 20-13 doubles record and was 9-6 when teaming up with Pete Van Lieshout.

Rutherford, a freshman out of Calgary, Alberta joins the team with an impressive resume. He was ranked 6th in doubles and 8th in singles as a Canadian Junior.

The Golden Eagles will open their 2007 season at #32 Michigan on January 20.