April 16, 2002

Memphis, Tenn. - Memphis is the fourth seed in this weekend's Conference USA Men's Tennis Championship hosted by the University of Louisville. The Tigers, currently ranked 64th nationally, will have a first round bye in the 12-team event.

Memphis will play its first match on Friday against the winner of Thursday's match between #5 Louisville and #12 East Carolina. The Tigers have defeated Louisville twice this season, once in Louisville and once at a neutral site. The Tigers have not played East Carolina.

The Tigers enter the tournament with an 18-6 overall record and a perfect 6-0 mark in C-USA play. Seeds are determined by a vote of the head coaches in the conference since the teams do not play a full and balanced conference schedule. Five of the Tigers six losses this year have come to teams ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Omni Hotels Top 75 with two of them coming to Top 10 teams.

Memphis has won two tournaments already this season. The Tigers were co-champions with Middle Tennessee of the H.E.B. Invitational in Corpus Christi, Texas, and breezed to victory in the UC-Irvine Anteater Classic in California.

Head coach Phil Chamberlain will go with his usual lineup in the C-USA tournament. In singles, Ben Stapp will play at one, followed in order by Joe Schmulian, Richard Magney, Lee Taylor Walker, Alex Bucewicz and Michael Chamberlain. In doubles, Stapp and Walker will play at one followed by Schmulian and Chamberlain at two and Bucewicz and Michael LaHaie at three.

Here is the order of play for the C-USA Men's Tennis Championship

Thursday, April 18 #8 Charlotte vs. #9 Southern Mississippi #6 UAB vs. #11 Marquette #5 Louisville vs. #12 East Carolina #7 DePaul vs. #10 Saint Louis

Friday, April 19 #3 South Florida vs. UAB/Marquette winner #1 TCU vs. Charlotte/Southern Miss winner #2 Tulane vs. DePaul/Saint Louis winner #4 Memphis vs. Louisville/East Carolina winner