Men's Tennis No. 3 Seed In BIG EAST Tourney

The Marquette University men's tennis team has earned the No. 3 seed in the 2019 BIG EAST Tournament Presented by Jeep, the league office announced Monday afternoon.

The Golden Eagles will face No. 6 seed Georgetown at 8 a.m. CT on Friday, April 19 at the Cayce Tennis & Fitness Center in Cayce, S.C. The finals are scheduled for Saturday, April 21 and the winner claims the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

MU is the event's defending champion, having claimed the program's first-ever title at the 2018 tournament with a 4-1 win over DePaul in the championship match. The Golden Eagles also made the team's first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 2017-18, falling at Illinois in the opening round.

"We have a wealth of championship experience on the roster, which will only be a benefit this year," head coach Steve Rodecap said. "Having said that, we know every match is going to be a battle and our success last year doesn't translate over to this season."

Seeds are determined by the conference's tennis championship and coaches' seeding advisory committees that review each team's regular-season schedule, ITA rankings, results against BIG EAST and common non-conference opponents and wins/losses against ranked foes.

The Golden Eagles (13-8), who have advanced to the championship match in each of the last four seasons, were 5-2 against BIG EAST competition in 2018-19, falling to top-seeded St. John's at home and No. 2 seed Butler on the road. Three players have more than 20 overall victories, led by seniors Greg Anderson and Alvaro Verdu at 14-6 in dual competition.

Marquette defeated the Hoyas 5-2 at Helfaer Tennis Stadium on Friday, Jan. 25. The winner of Friday's match would play the Butler/Villanova winner at 8 a.m. CT on Saturday, April 20.

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Players Mentioned

Greg Anderson

Alvaro Verdu