MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE SENDS THREE TEAMS
TO 2004 NCAA TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The Mountain West Conference will be represented by three of its eight member institutions at the 2004 NCAA Tennis Championships.
No. 64 New Mexico will represent the MWC for the men. On the strength of their first-place finish in last week's MWC Men's Championship in San Diego, the Lobos (17-6, 5-0 MWC) earned an automatic invitation to the Championship, where they will take on 23rd-ranked Washington in the first round at Taube Family Tennis Center on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., Saturday, May 15 at 9 a.m. PDT. No. 10 seed Stanford (ranked ninth in the nation) and Pacific University are the other two teams in that regional. The winners of the two first round matches will meet on Sunday, May 16, at noon PDT.
On the women's side, No. 18 BYU (24-5, 6-1 MWC) earned an automatic bid after winning the MWC Women's Championship crown last week in San Diego. The Cougars will go against 37th-ranked Pepperdine in first round action at UCLA's The Los Angeles Tennis Center, Friday, May 14 at 9 a.m. PDT. Ninth-seeded UCLA, ranked No. 8 in the nation, and No. 54 Long Beach State round out that regional. Friday's winners will face each other in the regional final on Saturday, May 15 at 3 p.m. PDT. No. 31 New Mexico (20-4, 7-0 MWC) earned an at-large invite to the Championship, where they will go up against No. 32 Oregon at the University of Washington's Quillian Stadium, on Saturday, May 15, at 10 a.m. PDT. Fairfield University is the fourth team competing in Seattle. The winners of the opening round will meet at 1 p.m. PDT on Sunday, May 16.
The 64 singles players and 32 double teams that will compete in the 2004 Division I Men's and Women's Tennis Championships will be announced on http://www.ncaasports.com/ , Thursday, May 6 by 5 p.m. CDT.
Winners of the 16 men's regionals will advance to the 2004 NCAA Men's Championships hosted by the University of Tulsa, May 22-25. Winners of the 16 women's regionals will advance to the 2004 Women's Championships hosted by the University of Georgia, May 20-23.
Full men's and women's NCAA brackets are available on the NCAA Championship website at www.NCAAChampionships.com.