STANFORD, Calif. — LSU men’s tennis players, Ajay Ramaswami and Dan Kiernan, along with Fernanda Tsucamoto and Amy McIlhaney of the Lady Tigers’ tennis team will begin competition Friday in the WingspanBank.com/WTT National Collegiate Tennis Team Championships here on the campus of Stanford University.
“It is an honor to be selected to the Wingspan tournament,” said LSU head women’s coach Tony Minnis. “They only invite the best teams in the nation to this event, and to be a part of this competition is quite an honor for our entire tennis program.”
The field for the 2000 WingspanBank.com National Collegiate Tennis Championships is made up of sixteen of the top men’s and women’s NCAA teams based on their combined season-ending ranking. Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers advanced to the quarterfinal rounds of their respective NCAA Championship tournaments last season. The men finished ranked 12th in the nation, while the women ended as the 21st-ranked team in the nation.
This year’s field will include: Clemson, UCLA, Illinois, Mississippi State, Minnesota, Notre Dame, Mississippi, San Diego State, South Alabama, Stanford, USC, Texas A&M, South Carolina, Virginia Commonwealth, Tulsa, and LSU.
“The best teams of both men’s and women’s tennis will be at this tournament,” said LSU men’s tennis head coach Jeff Brown. “These are the best of the best, and it is going to be quite a challenge to come home as the victors. We have a great group of players on our team, and we have the talent to bring the championship home.”
The three-day event, which is hosted by Merrill Corporation and administered by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, creates the unique scenario in which a co-ed national collegiate champion will be crowned in an NCAA santioned sport.
The team concept, which was originated by Billie Jean King and Larry King, features teams comprised of at least two men, two women and a coach. Each team match consists of five sets, with one set each of men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
One point is awarded for each game won. A nine-point tiebreaker is played if a set reaches five all. If necessary, a “Supertiebreaker” is played to determine the outright winner of the match.
In last year’s inaugural tournament, LSU finished third after falling to Texas A&M in the semifinal round. Texas A&M went on to beat Duke, 27-23, to capture the national title.
“We were pleased with our third-place finish last year,” Brown said. “But this year we want to win the thing.”
The Tigers will begin play in the WingspanBank.com National Team Collegiate Championships Friday morning at 10 a.m. versus Minnesota.
In Bloomington, Ind., LSU women’s tennis players; Tami Botts, Kelly Craycraft, Lauren Haddix, and Mandy Rice will begin competition at the Hoosier Classic Invitational on Friday.
“This is going to be a good test for our players,” said Minnis. We will use this to see who will possibly move up in our lineup, and it will also be a very competitive tournament,” said Minnis.
The Hoosier Classic Invitational will begin Friday at 10 a.m with two rounds of singles play and one round of doubles competition.