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Head Coach Martin Blackman led his team to the No. 1 seed in Patriot League Tournament this weekend.

April 15, 2003

WASHINGTON -- The American University men's tennis team captured its second straight Patriot League Championship this week with a 4-3 win over Army on Saturday.

AU will host the No. 2 Army, No. 3 Navy and No. 4 Colgate this Friday and Saturday at Reeves Courts on the campus of American University. The winner earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.

As the top seed, American will play the Raiders Friday at 9 a.m. followed by the Army-Navy matchup at 2 p.m. The final will be played Saturday at noon. In case of rain, all matches will be played at the Tennis Center at College Park. Friday's first match will begin at 8 a.m. followed by the second semifinal. Saturday's rain time will be set for 4 p.m.

The Eagles finished the regular season with a 13-3 overall record and a 5-1 showing against Patriot League opponents. AU's only loss came last week against Navy when there was a confusion on the starting time of the match that resulted in a 1-0 default.

In 2002, AU set school records with a 19-2 overall showing that included a 16-match winning streak. The Eagles were a perfect 6-0 record against Patriot League action to take their first trip to the NCAAs. In the first round, American lost to No. 17 Duke by a 4-0 margin.

American University, which fields a 19-sport NCAA Division I athletics program featuring 10 women’s sports and nine for men, is in its second year of membership in the Patriot League. Since joining the Patriot League, the University has captured league championships in men’s cross country, women’s cross country, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball, and regular-season titles in men’s basketball and women’s lacrosse.

Chartered by an Act of Congress in 1893, American University features students from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and more than 160 nations worldwide.