Temple University Athletics
Temple University
Saint Louis
Men's Tennis Enters Upcoming Atlantic 10 Championship as Fourth Seed
4.13.10 | Men's Tennis
Owls will play Friday at 2 p.m.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – The Temple men's tennis team received the fourth seed at the 32nd annual Atlantic 10 Men's Tennis Championship on April 16-18 at Club 4 Life in Monroeville, Pa. The Owls receive a bye in the first round and will face the winner of the #5 Saint Louis vs. #12 Fordham match, being played earlier in the day, at 2:00 p.m. on Friday.
The Owls have put together a 9-9 overall record this spring. TU also defeated four of the six Atlantic 10 opponents it played in the regular-season. The losses came to preseason favorite and top seed George Washington, 5-2, and third-seeded Duquesne by a score of 4-3.
Fifth-year head coach Steve Mauro has been led by the play of sophomore Filip Rams and his younger brother Kacper. Filip, a 2009 All-Atlantic 10 First-Team performer, picked his play up right where he left off last season. The Poland native has posted a 14-8 mark on the year, including a 9-6 record at number one in dual action and an undefeated 5-0 record against A-10 opponents. Filip and Kacper have spent most of the season playing doubles together at the first flight, leading the team with a 16-7 record which includes a 4-0 mark against conference foes. Kacper has held his own on the singles court as well, going 16-11 while rotating anywhere between the second and fourth flights.
Also reaching double figures in the singles win column is sophomore Mansur Gishkaev. Gishkaev is riding a four-match win streak right now to boast his singles mark to 15-6 this season. He has played all of his matches at the final three flights, with his best showing coming at number five with a 6-2 mark.
“The team is very excited about playing in the upcoming tournament,” said head coach Steve Mauro. “There were many teams that could have been seeded one through four, so we feel fortunate to have earned one of those seeds. We faced Fordham earlier this year and were successful. We have not played Saint Louis this year, but we feel we match up well with them and look forward to the challenge of either team.”
Vying for its first title since 1979, George Washington is the top seed for tournament. Two-time defending champion Xavier is the second seed, while Duquesne is seeded third.
George Washington enters this week's Championship riding a three-match winning streak and boasting five victories over its last six contests. Junior Chris Kushma, the reigning A-10 Player of the Week, paces the Colonials with 15 singles wins, while Ugur Atalay was tabbed the league's Most Outstanding Rookie last season.
The Musketeers, who defeated St. Bonaventure, 4-0, in the title match of the 2009 A-10 Championship, are led by seniors Chris Herrlinger and JT Torbeck, who have combined for 32 wins in singles action this season.
In addition to the aforementioned top four seeds, the rest of the seeds for the Championship are Saint Louis (fifth), Charlotte (sixth), St. Bonaventure (seventh), Richmond (eighth), Dayton (ninth), Saint Joseph's (tenth), La Salle (eleventh) and Fordham (twelfth).
Play begins on Friday, April 16, at 8:00 a.m., with the final match of the day starting at 5:00 p.m. On Saturday, April 17, play begins at 8:00 a.m. with the final match slated for 2:00 p.m. The fifth and seventh-place matches of the 2010 Atlantic 10 Men's Tennis Championship will commence on Sunday, April 18, at 8:00 a.m. The title and third-place matches close out the event at 11:00 a.m.
Admission is free to all fans. For complete results of the Atlantic 10 Men's Tennis Championship, log on to www.atlantic10.org.
