Tennis Teams Prepare For BIG EAST Championships
April 23, 2003 | Men's Tennis
April 23, 2003
Men's Bracket and Schedule
Women's Bracket and Schedule
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - The men's and women's tennis teams will begin their quest for their 11th and seventh conference titles, respectively, Friday, April 25 at the BIG EAST Championships. The tournament, which is being hosted by the University of Miami and held at the Neil Schiff Tennis Complex, runs through Sunday, April 27.
The men own the No. 5 seed and will play No. 4 Rutgers (7-9, 6-0 BIG EAST) at 9 a.m. on Friday. The winner of that match will take on top-seeded and 29th-ranked Miami at 9 a.m. the following day. The Eagles (10-8, 5-1 BE) lost to the Scarlet Knights, 4-3, on April 6 in Warren, N.J. Since then, Boston College has won three matches in a row.
Juniors Justin Slattery (Hampton, N.H.) and Brad Anderson (Edina, Minn.) lead the men's team. Splitting time at the No. 1 and 2 positions, Slattery and Anderson have gone a combined 21-11 in their singles matches this spring, including a perfect 12-0 in BIG EAST play. As the Eagles' No.1 doubles team, they are 13-2 overall and 5-0 in conference action.
Rounding out the men's lineup is sophomore Chris McCoy (Pittsburgh, Pa.), sophomore Jonathan Ounjian (Delray Beach, Fla.), junior Ross Pytko (Oxford, Mass.) and junior Paul Colahan (Beverly, Mass.). The Eagles' top six players went a combined 23-7 in BIG EAST singles matches this spring.
The No. 2 doubles team is senior Damon Vartabedian (Franklin Lakes, N.J.) and sophomore Bob Murray (Kenner, La.), while the duo of Ounjian and Colahan fills the No. 3 slot. The three aforementioned doubles teams swept through their BIG EAST competition this spring, going 9-0 in conference play.
At noon on Friday, the third-seeded BC women (12-7, 6-2 BE) take the court against No. 6 Syracuse (9-7, 5-2 BE), whom the Eagles defeated, 5-2, on Feb. 7 in Chestnut Hill. The winner of that match advances to play second-seeded and 24th-ranked Notre Dame at noon on Saturday. The women also come into the championships on a high, having won their last five matches.
Freshman Szilvia Szegedi (Dumakeszi, Hungary) leads a quintet of Eagles with double-digit win totals this spring. Playing all of her matches at No. 1, Szegedi has compiled a 10-5 mark and 4-1 BIG EAST record.
Sophomore Nida Waseem (Karachi, Pakistan) will play at No. 2. She is followed, in descending order, by junior Allison Ashley (Chestnut Hill, Mass.), sophomore Morgan Landes (Huron, Ohio), sophomore Amy Molden (El Cajon, Calif.) and junior Emily Hellberg (Spring Lake, Mich.). The women's top six singles players combined to go 29-13 against BIG EAST foes.
Waseem and Hellberg comprise the No. 1 doubles team. They posted a 7-1 mark against conference opponents. Szegedi and Ashley pair up at No. 2, while senior Anisha Fernando (Lake Oswego, Ore.) and sophomore Emily Yeomans (Lafayette, Calif.) will play at No. 3.
Last year, the women's team placed fourth at the championships while the men came in sixth.
