Men's Tennis Hosts Three Ranked Teams
Feb. 9, 1998
This Week: No. 40 Washington (2-2) hosts No. 24 UC Santa Barbara, No. 26 Tulsa and No. 29 Virginia Tech in the third annual Great Northwest Shoot Out this Valentine's Day weekend. Play begins Saturday at 10 a.m. as Tulsa and Virginia Tech face off followed by Washington and UC Santa Barbara at 2 p.m. The winning schools advance to the championship match. Play resumes Sunday for the third-place finish at 9:30 a.m. followed by the championship match at 1 p.m. All matches will be held in the Nordstrom Tennis Center on the UW campus.
Washington vs. Shoot Out Competitors: Washington and UC Santa Barbara split two meetings last year and lead the all-time series 8-6. The Huskies defeated the Gauchos in Seattle, 4-3, but the Gauchos defeated the Huskies in the NCAA Regionals, 4-1, to end the Huskies' post-season play. The Huskies hold a 2-1 in the all-time series with Tulsa. The two schools met in last year's Great Northwest Shoot Out with the Huskies defeating the Hurricanes, 4-3. Washington and Virginia Tech have never met in tennis action.
Serving Washington: The 40th-ranked Huskies are coming off a bye week after being swept in the Bay Area by No. 37 Cal and No. 1 Stanford. The Dawgs are led by the nation's 23rd-ranked player Robert Kendrick. Kendrick holds a 14-4 record. Junior Eric Drew teams up with Kendrick in No. 1 doubles play and are ranked No. 19 in the country with a 9-2 record. Kendrick's combined doubles record this year is 12-3. A pleasant surprise on this year's squad is the play of freshman of Marius Lunde. Lunde carries an 8-5 record coming in to this weekend.
Serving UC Santa Barbara: The 24th-ranked Gauchos enter as the tournament's highest ranked school. The Guachos are led by Cory Guy with a 4-2 record. The Gauchos are 1-2 and play Pepperdine Feb. 11 before travelling to Seattle.
Serving Tulsa: Tulsa holds a 1-2 record after falling to No. 32 Tulane and No. 55 Southern Mississippi by identical scores of 5-2. Tulsa has three ranked players in the top-100. Leading the Hurricanes are No. 28 Gareth Williams (11-4), No. 58 Nenad Toroman (13-5) and No. 94 Louie Pranic (10-8). Pranic and Williams team up in No. 1 doubles to form the nation's 34th-ranked doubles team with a 15-3 record. This is Tulsa's second appearance in the Shoot Out.
Serving Virginia Tech: The Hokies are ranked 29th in the nation heading in to the Shoot Out. Aaron Marchetti began the year ranked 90th and is now the 14th-ranked player in the nation. Marchetti doubles up with his brother, Adam, in doubles play and are ranked 43rd in the nation.
Spreading the Love: This year's Great Northwest Shoot Out marks the latest it has been held and the first time it has taken place on Valentine's Day.
Birthday Watch: There are five Huskies that celebrate birthdays during the season. Marius Lunde celebrates his birthday next weekend on Feb. 21. He will be 21 years old.
Next Week: Washington takes next weekend off before resuming Pac-10 action hosting the Oregon Ducks at home, Feb. 27 at 4 p.m.
