Historic season, high hopes

By Ben Miller

May 13, 2005, 12:00 AM

After winning the first Pac-10 title in program history, the Washington men's tennis team has its sights set on a national title, beginning play in the NCAA regionals today. The No. 12 Huskies (18-4) are the No. 15 seed in the field and will host first and second play at Bill Quillian Stadium. All four teams in the regional are vying for a spot in the 16-team field playing for the national championship in College Station, Texas from May 21-24. "We've had a little break here since the Pac-10 championships and at this point they are more than eager to get going," coach Matt Anger said about the players' mindset. Washington's first round opponent is Mid-Continent Conference Champion Oral Roberts. The match starts at 2 p.m. The Golden Eagles went undefeated in conference play but are winless against squads currently in the 64-team NCAA tournament field. However, they hold a 2-1 record in the all-time series against the UW. Oral Roberts is making its fifth straight appearance in the tournament and is currently on an eight-match winning streak despite finishing just one game over .500 at 13-12. Senior Wessel Kemp leads the Golden Eagles, recently named the Mid-Continent Conference player of the year. If the Huskies get past the first round, they will match up against one of two southern teams in round two. No. 21 Southern California and No. 44 Southern Methodist will face each other at 10 a.m. today, both vying to continue their season. On April 2, in their conference match earlier, Washington defeated the Trojans for the second time ever 4-3 on. Jamil Al-Agba leads USC as the 10th-ranked player in the nation. It has been two weeks since the Huskies last played (in the Pac-10 championships) and Anger said that has both positive and negative effects. "It is a chance to recover and be ready to go," he said. "You might lose a little match toughness or so, but because it is the end of the season you are going to get that back after being on the court for about 20 minutes."

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