May 1, 2003

CHICAGO - Three Memphis Tigers received post-season accolades, Thursday, when Conference USA announced its season-ending awards. Senior Ben Stapp and junior Lee Taylor Walker each earned second team all-conference honors, while senior Joe Schmulian earned his first post-season honor as a third-team honoree.

This is the second career all-conference honor for Stapp who finished the year with a 21-12 overall record in singles and a 16-7 mark in spring duals. Stapp also received second team honors as a freshman after finishing with an 18-11 singles and 20-6 doubles record during his first semester on campus.

This year, Stapp teamed with Walker to post an impressive fall season in doubles, advancing to the Omni Hotels Region III Indoor championships and winning three doubles titles (Middle Tennessee, Adult Southern Open and Milwaukee Tennis Classic). The doubles duo ranked as high as No. 12 in the country at one point in the season, and finished the year with a 16-8 record at No. 1 doubles in spring duals. Stapp, a two-time C-USA player of the week honoree in 2003, wrapped his four-year career with a 72-45 record in singles play while playing no lower than No. 4 in the Tiger line-up. Stapp was also 84-34 in doubles, playing his entire career at No. 1.

Walker is receiving his first-ever all-conference honor. The junior from Jackson, Tennessee, finished the year with a 14-19 overall singles record, including a 9-15 mark in the spring season where he spent a majority of the year at No. 1 singles. At one point after the fall season, Walker was one of the top 125 ranked singles players in the country after advancing to the Round of 32 at the Omni Hotels Region III Singles Championship. In that same tournament, Walker teamed with Stapp to down three SEC doubles foes before falling to the No. 1 team from Alabama in the finals. The duo went on to win three other doubles championships (Middle Tennessee, Adult Southern Open, Milwaukee Tennis Classic), before posting a 16-8 record at No. 1 doubles this year. At one point in the season, the team ranked as high as No. 12 in the country.

In his two-year Memphis career, Walker, who transferred to Memphis from Clemson, is 28-26 in singles and 43-17 at No. 1 doubles.

Schmulian capped his three-year Tiger career with his first-ever post-season honor. After tearing a ligament in his foot during the fall and missing the entire preparatory fall schedule, Schmulian bounced back to post a 16-6 record during the spring, finishing 16-8 for the year. A member of the Dean's List and the Tiger 3.0 Club, Schmulian will graduate later this month with a degree in M.I.S. He has served as the team captain for the last two seasons for Memphis, and was nominated for the league and ITA Southeast Region sportsmanship awards after the Tigers received the ITA's Team Sportsmanship Award in March.

Schmulian finishes his career with a 41-22 mark in singles and a 34-20 mark in doubles. He teamed with sophomore Alex Bucewicz this past season, finishing with a 14-8 record at No. 2 doubles. Schmulian was also 6-3 at No. 2 singles and 8-2 at No. 3 singles for the season.

2003 C-USA Men's Tennis Post Season Awards
All-Conference
First Team
Paco Antelo, USF
Cody Conley, UL
Uli Kiendl, USF
Michael Kogan, Tulane
Alex Menichini, TCU
Victor Romero, Tulane
Second Team
Paulo Carvalho, Louisville
Toni Gordon, TCU
Dmitriy Koch, Tulane
Fabrizio Sestini, TCU
Ben Stapp, Memphis
Lee Taylor Walker, Memphis
Third Team
Arturo Aguirre, Charlotte
David Canudas, Southern Miss
Jorge Escallon, South Florida
Ikaika Jobe, Saint Louis
Charl Meyer, East Carolina
Joe Schmulian, Memphis
Player of the Year
Michael Kogan, Tulane
Freshman of the Year
Jhonny Berrido, Louisville
Coach of the Year
Robert Klein, Tulane
Singles Player of the Championship
Victor Romero, Tulane
Doubles Team of the Championship
Michael Kogan and Victor Romero, Tulane