Sept. 18, 2002

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The No. 29 ranked men's tennis doubles team of Ben Stapp (Sydney, Australia/St. Joseph's) and Lee Taylor Walker (Jackson, Tenn./University School of Jackson) will join their teammates is the 2002-2003 season opening tournament at Middle Tennessee beginning Friday.

"We've had good, competitive practices," Head Coach Phil Chamberlain said. "We're ready to go."

The duo of Stapp and Walker is the top seeded team in Flight One Doubles, with the Middle Tennessee duo of Daniel Klementz and Kirk Jackson, who are ranked No. 37 in the country, the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Stapp and Walker will face the team of Gernot Fischer and Razvan Illie from Tennessee Tech in the opening round of the tournament, Saturday, with the winners advancing to face the winner of the Chad Harris/Matt Lockin (Vanderbilt) and Rameez Junaid/Rodrigo Minozzo (Auburn) match.

Flight Two Doubles finds Joe Schmulian (Devon, South Africa/Hugenote) teamed with fellow Tiger Alex Bucewicz (Melbourne, Australia/Salesian). Schmulian and Bucewicz will face the winner of the Poutchinets/Murali (UALR) and Bong/Savidor (SIU) match at 4:45 p.m., Friday.

In Flight Three Doubles, the Tiger team of Nathan Orie (Sydney, Australia/St. Ignatius) and Andrew Olswing (Memphis, Tenn./Ridgeway) will square off against Matt Davis and Toby Bourke of Jacksonville State at 3:30 p.m., Friday.

In the singles portion of the tournament, the Tigers will have three individuals participating in A1 Singles. Senior Ben Stapp, seeded eighth in the tournament, will face Tennessee's Vincent Perna at 10 a.m., Friday, while Schmulian faces UALR's Juan Carlos Baca at 8:30 a.m., Friday. Walker will be the third Tiger in the A1 bracket and will begin his tournament schedule at 9:30 a.m., Friday, against Jacksonville State's Arthuro Nieto.

Bucewicz will be the only Tiger competing in the A2 singles. He will face Vanderbilt's Josh Tarkoff at 11 a.m, Friday. Orie and Olswing will compete in A3 singles. Orie faces Oltion Mollaymeri from UT-Martin, while Olswing begins his Tiger college career against Carleton White from Tennessee State.

Tiger Schedule
Singles
A1 Singles
No. 8 seed Ben Stapp (UM) vs. Vincent Perna (UT), Friday, 10 a.m.
Joe Schmulian (UM) vs. Juan Carlos Baca (UALR), Friday, 8:30 a.m.
Lee Taylor Walker (UM) vs. Arthuro Nieto (JSU), Friday, 9:30 a.m.

A2 Singles
Alex Bucewicz (UM) vs. Josh Tarkoff (VU), Friday, 11 a.m.

A3 Singles
Nathan Orie (UM) vs. Oltion Mollaymeri (UTM), Friday, 8:30 a.m.
Andrew Olswing (UM) vs. Carleton White (TSU), 9:30 a.m.

Doubles
Flight One
No. 29 Stapp/Walker (UM) vs. Fischer/Illie (TTU), Saturday, TBA

Flight Two
Schmulian/Bucewicz (UM) vs. winner Poutchinets/Murali (UALR) vs. Alon Savidor (SIU), Friday, 4:45 p.m.

Flight Three
Orie/Olswing (UM) vs. Davis/Bourke (JSU), Friday, 3:30 p.m.