Four C-USA Tennis Squads Earn NCAA Championship Berths

Alex Menichini

Tulane's Conference USA Championship men's and women's tennis teams, along with the TCU and South Florida men's squads, will represent C-USA in the 2003 NCAA Championships which get underway next week at campus sites around the nation.

CHICAGO -- Tulane's Conference USA Championship men's and women's tennis teams, along with the TCU and South Florida men's squads, will represent C-USA in the 2003 NCAA Championships which get underway next week at campus sites around the nation.

Tulane (19-5), ranked 15th, received the conference's automatic bid by winning this year's team title in Milwaukee on April 19. TCU (15-8), ranked 24th and the C-USA runner up to Tulane, along with No. 43 South Florida (15-8) garnered at-large bids to this year's field of 64. The Green Wave women's squad (19-4) is the league's only representative in the women's field.

The Green Wave men will be making their seventh straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament and will serve as a host site for the first time. Tulane will face Southern (11-5) on Saturday, May 10th at the Goldring Tennis Center. LSU (13-10) and South Alabama (19-7) will square off in the other matchup.

The Wave is led by 11th-ranked Michael Kogan, who is 19-2 this spring. Kogan and doubles partner, Victor Romero, are 21-1 this season and ranked fifth nationally.

Ironically, TCU will face No. 37 SMU (16-11) in opening-round action on May 10th at Baylor in Waco, Texas. The Horned Frogs swept a pair of matches with the Mustangs during regular season. The host Bears (25-1) will face Texas-Arlington (13-10) in the other match.

TCU is led by a pair of nationally-ranked players in Alex Menichini (10-9, No. 81) and Toni Gordon (13-9, No. 86).

South Florida will travel to Texas A&M in College Station, Texas, where it will meet 20th-ranked Georgia (9-14) in the first round. The host Aggies will play Maryland-Baltimore County (12-11) in the other first-round match.

USF's top players are Uli Kiendl (10-8, No. 87) and Paco Antelo (11-7).

The 29th-ranked Tulane women will travel to Gainesville, Fla., and the University of Florida for their first-round match with with No. 33 Texas (11-14) on Friday, May 9. The host Gators (25-2), ranked second, will entertain No. 64 Florida Atlantic (19-5) in the opening round.

Tulane's best player is the league's Player and Freshman of the Year, Jenny Kuhn, who is ranked 61st with an 18-2 dual-match record. She teams with fellow freshman Julie Smekodub to form the 10th-ranked doubles tandem in the land with a 12-4 record.

The men's team championship will be decided in Athens, Ga., at the University of Georgia on May 17-20, while the women's team championship will conclude in Gainesville, Fla. at the University of Florida, May 15-18.