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2008 NCAA Tennis Tournament Participants Announced Three MWC teams and eight individuals included in men's and women's fields
April 29, 2008
The men's team from TCU and the women's teams from TCU and UNLV will represent the Mountain West Conference when the 2008 NCAA Men's and Women's Team Tennis Championships get underway next week. In addition, eight MWC individuals will participate in the NCAA Singles and Soubles Tennis Championships the following week. The TCU men and UNLV women earned the league's automatic bids by winning their respective titles at the MWC Championships last week in Fort Worth, Texas. The TCU women's team will also be participating in the NCAA Tournament after receiving an at-large invitation. First- and second-round competition will be conducted Friday-Saturday or Saturday-Sunday, May 9-10 or 10-11, with the winner of each site advancing to the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Tennis Championships at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, hosted by the University of Tulsa. The team championships will be held May 15-20. In Austin, Texas, 74th-ranked Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (15-7) takes on host and seventh-seeded Texas at 10 a.m. CT, Friday, May 9, in opening-round action of the NCAA Men's Tournament, followed by 34th-ranked TCU (20-7) vs. 24th-ranked Rice (16-8) at 1 p.m. CT. Led by 2008 MWC Co-Player of the Year Cosmin Cotet, the Frogs will be making their 17th NCAA appearance in 18 years and 22nd all-time. In Los Angeles, Calif., 37th-ranked UNLV (17-8) will play 18th-ranked Pepperdine (19-4) on Friday, May 9, at 1 p.m PT, while number 10 seed and host USC plays Marist (10-8) at 4 p.m. PT in the first round of the NCAA Women's Tournament. Three-time MWC Player of the Year Elena Gantcheva heads up a Lady Rebel squad that is making its fifth NCAA appearance in seven years and seventh overall. In other women's first-round NCAA tournament action in Waco, Texas, 26th-ranked TCU (20-5) faces 40th-ranked Tulsa (21-5) at 3 p.m. on Friday, May 9, while No. 5 seed and host Baylor (28-2) meets up with 69th-ranked Furman (19-5) at 6 p.m. The Lady Frogs are making their fifth consecutive and 11th overall NCAA appearance.
Individually, TCU's Cosmin Cotet and UNLV's Elena Gantcheva earned automatic bids in men's and women's singles, respectively, while doubles automatic qualifiers included TCU's Cotet and Kriegler Brink for the men and Utah's Elizabeth Ferris and Emily Kwok on the women's side. TCU's Anna Sydorska and Macall Harkins earned an at-large berth for women's doubles. Ferris, BYU's Anastasia Surkova and TCU's Nina Munch-Soegaard were selected as alternates in women's singles, while Gantcheva and teammate Kristina Nedeltcheva were chosen as an alternate duo in women's doubles. The singles and doubles competitions will be conducted May 21-26 at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, following the conclusion of the team championships. |
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