May 5, 1997

Regionals await SMU

By Jennifer Mueller

embers of the SMU men's tennis team are putting the Western Athletic Conference behind them and are now focusing on the NCAA regional tournament, scheduled for this weekend in Fort Worth.

After a disappointing 4-2 loss to Tulsa in the quarterfinals of the WAC tournament, the Mustangs are counting their wins and putting their losses aside. The men closed out the regular season and tournament play last weekend, recording an impressive 17-6 mark and finishing fourth in the WAC.

The team's 17 wins mark the second-winningest season in the last 11 years of SMU men's tennis, earning them a bid to the NCAA regional tournament for the first time since 1987.

"We finished fourth in the WAC, which is a testament to how great of a season we had," head coach Carl Neufeld said. "The NCAA tournament is a chance to prove how good of a team we are."

The Mustangs' record is an improvement over last season's 12-8 standing. In addition to improving their win/loss record and earning an NCAA bid, the men jumped up almost 20 spots in the national rankings. Moving from No. 53 to No. 34, the team established its highest ranking since 1986. Currently, SMU is ranked No. 37.

"I think we exceeded our expectations this year," No. 1 singles player Ignacio Hirigoyen said. "I think we could have done a better job in the [WAC] tournament, but we couldn't have done a better job with what we did during the season."

The men had an easy 5-0 win over Hawaii in the first round of the tournament but dropped their next game against Tulsa 4-2.

"We knew it would be a close match," Neufeld said. "It went down to the wire, and we didn't have it."

With their loss put to rest, the Mustangs enter the regional tournament as the No. 4 seed and are set to take on the fifth-seeded Texas Tech in Friday's 9 a.m. first round at the Mary Potishman Lard Tennis Complex.

"They had some injuries in the middle of the season and lost a few matches they wouldn't have otherwise lost," Neufeld said. "They're healthy now, and we can't take them lightly."

While the men stayed relatively free from injury, they were plagued by an unusual amount of traveling. Seventeen of the Mustangs' 23 matches were played away from the confines of Haggar Tennis Stadium.

During one of their trips, the men picked up a close 4-3 win over Washington, which according to Neufeld was the team's best victory in 10 years.

"We got through the season by beating some tough teams in the WAC," senior Tim Radonga said. "Our wins over Rice and A&M were big for us."

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