ATHENS, Ga. — LSU’s 18th-ranked doubles team comprised of Bryan Fisher and Jason Hazley will begin play in the 2003 NCAA Championships on Thursday as the Tiger pair is scheduled to face off against Rice’s top-seeded tandem of Richard and William Barker here at the venerable Dan Magill Tennis Center in Athens, Ga.
The Tigers’ doubles combination of Fisher and Hazley heads into the 2003 NCAA Championships with a 22-10 overall record on the season and as the defending SEC Indoor Champions. During the fall, LSU’s pair rallied to five-straight victories over some of the nation’s top opponents en route to winning the 2002 SEC Doubles Championship.
The 2003 NCAA Doubles Championships is a five-round single-elimination tournament consisting of the top-32 ranked doubles teams in the nation. The annual event, which will crown the eventual national champion, is being held simultaneously with the 2003 NCAA Singles Championships beginning on Thursday.
Rice’s tandem of Barker and Barker, identical twin brothers from Solihull, England, is currently the top-ranked doubles team in the nation and is in the midst of a monumental 32-match winning streak. The pair owns a stellar 35-1 overall record on the season and a perfect 16-0 mark in dual-match play.
LSU’s Fisher and Hazley faced two top-five ranked opponents this season and lost both times. The Tigers’ tandem fell prey to San Diego State’s third-ranked Maiberger/Redondo, 8-5, and Texas A&M’s fifth-ranked Cook/Matijevic, 8-5.
The winner of Thursday’s first-round matchup will meet either Vanderbilt’s 19th-ranked combination of Chad Harris and Scott Brown or North Carolina’s 17th-ranked pair comprised of Trystan Meniane and Nicholos Monroe in the round of 32 on Thursday.