EMAIL THIS PAGE

AU Men’s Tennis to Face No. 16 Seed Washington in First Round of NCAA Tournament
Eagles to travel to San Diego next weekend

April 30, 2003 | NCAA Bracket | Automatic Qualifiers

Patriot League Tournament MVP Juan Jaysingh and the rest of the AU men's tennis team will face No. 16 seed Washington in the first round of the NCAA Tournament next week.

WASHINGTON — The American University men’s tennis team learned today via ESPNEWS it will face the No. 16 seed Washington in San Diego, Calif. in the first round of the NCAA Tournament May 10.

Also playing in the same bracket are San Diego St. (15-9) and San Diego (13-9). The NCAA finals will be held at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the campus of the University of Georgia from May 17-26.

The Eagles, who blanked Army, 4-0, in the Patriot League Championships to advance, are one of 31 teams to earn automatic bids into the field of 64. It marks the second time in two years and the second time in program history that AU has ever reached the NCAA Tournament.

Currently, American is 15-3 overall and went 5-1 in Patriot League play to earn the regular season title. In 2003, American reached its highest-ever team ranking by ITA at No. 68. AU has one final match against Hampton on May 3 on Reeves Courts at 2 p.m.

The Eagles are led by juniors Tushar Garg (Mumbai, India/Bradenton Academy) at No. 1 singles and doubles and Guilluame Tarralle (Paris, France/French International School (Md.), who has been strong at No. 2 singles. Garg moved into the No. 1 spot in March and is 10-3 this spring against nationally ranked and regional opponents. Tarralle made a successful move from No. 1 to No. 2 singles, going 3-1 versus league opponents in 2003.

Returning for his third season as captain is Kyle Bailey (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson), who has been consistent at No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles for American. The senior earned team MVP honors and has been named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll.

Standing out on a team full of upperclassmen this spring has been freshman Juancarlo Vazquez (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Centre Educativo Superior Vocational). Moving his way up to No. 4 singles, Vazquez became the Patriot League’s and American University’s first-ever individually ranked player when he nabbed the No. 116 spot in early March. He defeated then-No. 36 Miami's Luis Manrique in March, 6-3, 6-4.

Juniors Jonah Fliegelman (Philadelphia, Pa./Central) and Juan Jaysingh (Rockville, Md./Georgetown Prep) have been solid at Nos. 5 and 6. Jaysingh earned Patriot League Tournament MVP honors when he quickly put away both his singles opponents during the two-day event. Fliegelman was equally critical by winning the deciding match at No. 6 singles, 7-6, 6-0, over Army’s Sebastian Salas.

Putting in strong matches at doubles are junior transfer Ruben Rivero (Sevilla, Spain/Suffolk County Community College (New York) and redshirt senior Andreas Kulcsar (Nuremberg, Germany/Neues Gum. Nuremberg). Rivero has paired up with Jaysingh at No. 3 singles while Kulcsar earned a win at No. 1 doubles with Garg in Patriot League finals against the Black Knights.

Also factoring in for American is freshman Sebastien Proisy (Villepreux, France/Santa Clara International College), who has shown skill in his three singles matches this spring.

Head Coach Martin Blackman, a former ATP player who captured a pair of NCAA titles while playing at Stanford, is currently in his fourth season as head coach at AU, winning 87 percent of his matches in the last two years. He is assisted by second year assistant, Bear Schofield. Schofield graduated in 1998 after playing singles and doubles at Virginia.

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.

Overall, the Patriot League is 0-4 in the NCAA Tournament. Army captured the first three automatic bids from 1999-2001 before the Eagles won in 2002.

ABOUT THE HUSKIES

Washington is currently ranked No. 12 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association after defeating then-No. 65 Oregon in its final regular season match on April 19 by a 4-3 margin. The Huskies went 16-5 on the year and were 2-5 in the PAC-10.

Their top player is Alex Vlaski, a sophomore from Belgrade ranked No. 10 individually by ITA. Also nationally ranked is senior Matt Hanlon at No. 28. Vlaski and Ari Strasberg register in at No. 37 as doubles partners.

In 2002, then-No. 35 Washington lost to No. 13 Auburn in the Round of 16 by a 4-3 margin.

Washington is coached by ninth-year coach Matt Anger, who is assisted by Gordon O'Reilly, in his tenth season with the Huskies.

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, women’s lacrosse, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and women’s volleyball, and a regular-season title in men’s basketball.
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.

2003 Men's Tennis NCAA Tournament Automatic Qualifiers

America East - Binghamton - 17-9
Atlantic 10 - St. Bonaventure - 13-8
Atlantic Coast - Duke - 20-5
Atlantic Sun - UCF - 20-3
Big 12 - Baylor - 25-1
Big East - Miami (Florida) - 13-7
Big Sky - Sacramento State - 12-15
Big South - High Point - 14-2
Big Ten - Illinois - 26-0
Big West - UC Santa Barbara - 15-8
Colonial - Virginia Commonwealth - 24-3
C-USA - Tulane - 19-5
Horizon - Butler - 18-6
Ivy - Harvard - 17-8
MAAC - Marist - 22-2
MAC - Ball State - 15-6
Mid-Continent - Oral Roberts - 8-13-1
Mid-Eastern - Hampton - 14-8
Missouri Valley - Wichita State - 16-10
Mountain West - San Diego State - 15-9
Northeast - UMBC - 12-11
Ohio Valley - Tennessee Tech - 15-9
Pacific-10 - Stanford - 21-3
Patriot - American - 15-3
SEC - Vanderbilt - 22-3
Southern - College of Charleston - 17-3
Southland - Texas-Arlington - 13-10
SWAC - Southern University - 11-5
Sun Belt - South Alabama - 19-7
West Coast - Pepperdine - 16-10
WAC - Boise State - 17-7