Men's, Women's Tennis Earn BIG EAST Championship Bids
Apr 18 | Women's Tennis
PISCATAWAY, NJ - The Rutgers men’s and women’s tennis teams will continue their respective seasons at the 2006 BIG EAST Championships, which begin on Thursday, April 20 at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla.
The men’s squad (6-9, 4-2 BIG EAST), which is the defending conference runners-up, earned the sixth seed and will face third-seeded Marquette in the opening round on Friday, April 21 at 9:00 a.m. Should Rutgers advance, it would face the winner of the No. 2 Louisville/No. 7 DePaul match on Saturday at noon.
The women’s squad (13-7, 8-4 BIG EAST) earned the conference’s No. 8 seed and will take on ninth-seeded Marquette on Thursday at 9:00 a.m. The winner of the opening-round match plays top-seeded Notre Dame on Friday at 9:00 a.m. The Scarlet Knights defeated Marquette during the regular season, 4-3.
The BIG EAST Tennis Championships returns to the campus of USF for the second consecutive year. Notre Dame has captured a total of nine BIG EAST titles, with the women earning five and the men with four. The last time a current BIG EAST school other than Notre Dame won the men's title was in 1991 when St. John's took home the crown. On the women's side, it’s been over 20 years since a current BIG EAST member besides the Irish have captured the title. The Syracuse women’s team took home the conference championship in 1985.
The conference champions will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. The men’s national championships will be held May 12-29 with the first and second rounds being held at campus sites and the finals held at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif. The women's championship will also be held at Stanford, May 12-28. First and Second rounds for the women's tournament will also be held at campus sites.
