The University of Memphis men's tennis team (13-8, 2-1 C-USA)earned the No. 5 seed for the Conference USA Championships thatbegin Wednesday in Milwaukee, Wis. The Tigers drew No. 12 seedDePaul for their opening round match-up, with the winner advancingto face No. 3 seed South Florida at 9 a.m., Thursday.
No. 1 seed Tulane, No. 2 seed TCU, No. 3 seed South Florida andNo. 4 seed Louisville all received first-round byes in thetournament. Tulane will face the winner of the No. 8 Charlotte/No.9Saint Louis match, Louisville will face the winner of the No. 6Southern Miss/No. 11 Marquette match and TCU will face the winnerof the No. 7 UAB/No. 10 East Carolina match.
"I like where we are sitting," Tiger Head Coach Phil Chamberlainsaid. "We have a great opportunity to do well in the draw we arein, but we'll need to get our confidence going right away in thatfirst match."
The Tigers' first match against DePaul (4-17) is slated for 9a.m., Thursday. "I like us playing the first matches of themorning," Chamberlain said. "Even in the case of bad weather, we'restill guaranteed to get our matches in, so we should be wellprepared for our matches."
The Blue Demons bring a young team to the 2003 championships,with just one senior and no juniors on their roster. While thiswill be the first meeting between the two programs this season,they have had some common opponents. DePaul was defeated byMarquette, 5-2, on April 2, a team that Memphis swept 4-0 at theC-USA Inner Conference tournament in Florida. The Tigers will bethe sixth nationally-ranked opponents of the year for DePaul,having faced Northwestern, Michigan State, Ohio State, WesternMichigan and the University of Michigan already this year.
But the Tigers will want to avoid a repeat of last year, whenthey were seeded fourth in the tournament but were upended by No. 5seed Louisville and then upset by No. 7 seed DePaul in theconsolation bracket.
Memphis, ranked No. 67 in the country heading into thetournament, would need a deep run in the tournament to try tobolster their rankings for consideration for the NCAA Tournament.The winner of the Conference USA tournament receives an automaticbid to the NCAA Tournament. Memphis has never competed in the teamportion of the NCAAs and has not sent an individual to the NCAAssince the 1970s.
C-USA Men's Tennis Tournament Seedings
No. 1 Tulane
No. 2 TCU
No. 3 South Florida
No. 4 Louisville
No. 5 Memphis
No. 6 Southern Miss
No. 7 UAB
No. 8 Charlotte
No. 9 Saint Louis
No. 10 East Carolina
No. 11 Marquette
No. 12 DePaul
First Round Match-ups
Wednesday, 10 a.m.
No. 8 Charlotte vs. No. 9 Saint Louis
No. 5 Memphis vs. No. 12 DePaul
Wednesday, 1 p.m.
No. 6 Southern Miss vs. No. 11 Marquette
No. 7 UAB vs. No. 10 East Carolina
