Jan. 13, 2003

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis men's tennis team received rankings in all three categories of the Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Pre-season Rankings released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, Monday.

The Tigers were ranked No. 51 in the country as a team and the No. 1 doubles team of senior Ben Stapp (Sydney, Australia/St. Josephs) and junior Lee Taylor Walker (Jackson, Tenn./University School of Jackson) was voted the No. 12 doubles team in the country. Walker was also ranked in the singles portion of the ballot, finishing 113th in the country in singles.

Stapp and Walker have won three doubles tournaments this year, including wins at Middle Tennessee, the Adult Southern Open and the Milwaukee Tennis Classic, which the tandem won over the weekend.

"I think this probably is the highest a Memphis doubles team has ever been ranked," Head Coach Phil Chamberlain said. "Even when Keith West and I were ranked, we were No. 18."

In team play, Conference USA had five teams receive national rankings, led by No. 21 South Florida. TCU, Tulane, and Louisville joined USF and Memphis in the top 75. The Tigers' No. 1 duo was the highest-rated C-USA doubles team in the poll. Louisville's Cody Conley and Octavian Nicodim were ranked No. 22, while Tulane's Michale Kogan and Victor Romero were ranked No. 29 to round out C-USA teams in the doubles rankings. Rice's William Barker, who defeated Stapp in singles play at the ITA All-American Qualifier in October, and Richard Barker were the nation's top-ranked doubles team.

Omni Hotels Collegiate Tennis Rankings
Team
1.	UCLA
2.	Illinois
3.	Baylor
4.	Stanford
5.	Florida
6.	Georgia
7.	Southern California
8.	Mississippi
9.	Kentucky
10.	California
21.	South Florida
34.	TCU
38.	Tulane
46.	Louisville
51.     Memphis
Singles
1.	Benedikt Dorsch, Baylor
2.	Amer Delic, Illinois
3.	Daniel Klemetz, Middle Tennessee
4.	Jesse Witten, Kentucky
5.	Alex Vlaski, Washington
6.	Phil Stolt, Illinois
7.	Jeremy Wurtzman, Ohio State
8.	Bobby Reynolds, Vanderbilt
9.	Todd Widom, Miami (Fla.)
10.	Rameez Junaid, Auburn
32.     Michael Kogan, Tulane
48.	Toni Gordon, TCU
53.	Paco Antelo, South Florida
70.	Victor Romero, Tulane
85.	Alex Menichini, TCU
T104.   Fabrizo Sestini, TCU
113.    Lee Taylor Walker, Memphis
Doubles
1.	William Barker/Richard Barker, Rice
2.	Michael Calkins/Amer Delic, Illinois
3.	Scott Lipsky/David Martin, Stanford
4.	Zoltan Csanadi/Izak Van Der Merwe, Old Dominion
5.	Lester Cook/Ante Marijevic, Texas A&M
6.	Oliver Maiberger/Ryan Redondo, San Diego State
7.	Carlos Lozano/Erik Nyman, BYU
8.	Geogg Hixcox/Stephen Mitchell, Alabama
9.	KC Corkery/James Pade, Stanford
10.	Daniel Klemetz/Kirk Jackson, Middle Tennessee
11.	Brian Morton/Jonathan Endrikat, UC-Irvine
12.	Ben Stapp/Lee Taylor Walker, Memphis
22.	Cody Conley/Octavian Nicodim, Louisville
29.     Michael Kogan/Victor Romero, Tulane