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Six Big Ten Teams and 10 Student-Athletes to Compete in 2008 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships
May 6, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
Six Big Ten teams will compete in the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships beginning this weekend with first and second round action taking place May 9-11 at various sites. Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin will all be competing in this year's event. Along with these six squads, 10 Big Ten student-athletes were selected as singles and doubles participants in the championships. Big Ten Champion Ohio State earned the overall No. 2 seed in this year's bracket. The Buckeyes will battle Cleveland State on Saturday in first round action on their home court in Columbus, Ohio. This is the ninth-consecutive year that OSU has earned its way into the NCAA Championships. Illinois is making its 13th-straight appearance and is tabbed as the No. 15 seed in this year's event. The Illini finished second in the Big Ten Championship and will host Xavier on Friday. The final seeded conference team is No. 16 Michigan. The Wolverines finished fourth in the Big Ten standings and will host Western Michigan on Saturday. Wisconsin, which finished tied for second in the final conference standings, will travel to Los Angeles, Calif., to face Washington in the first round on Saturday. Indiana plays on Saturday in Oxford, Miss. against Vanderbilt, and Penn State will matchup with VCU in Charlottesville, Va. In the singles portion of the championships, OSU's Bryan Koniecko is the Big Ten's automatic qualifier. Joining him in the singles bracket are Illinois' Ruben Gonzales and Ryan Rowe, Ohio State's Justin Kronauge and Steven Moneke and Wisconsin's Moritz Baumann. In doubles, OSU's Koniecko and Moneke are the conference's automatic qualifying duo. Joining them as at-large selections are Illinois' Billy Heiser and Rowe, Michigan State's Adam Monich and Nick Rinks and Ohio State's Drew Eberly and Kronauge. In addition, five Big Ten student-athletes were chosen as alternates for the championships in both singles and doubles. The alternates are Iowa's Bart van Monsjou, Michigan's Matko Maravic and George Navas and Penn State's Michael James and Brendan Lynch.
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