Men's Tennis Releases Fall Schedule

NORMAN, Okla. University of Oklahoma Athletics Director Joe Castiglione and men's tennis head coach Paul Lockwood announced the team's 2005 fall schedule today. The Sooners will compete in four tournaments from September to November, with the first tournament set for Sept. 23 at the Baylor Intercollegiates in Waco, Texas.

Seniors Tommy Garrison, Alexei Ivanov and Matt Long, and junior Marek Velicka have been selected to attend the Polo Ralph Lauren Men's All-American Tennis Championships Oct. 3-9 in Tulsa. The tournament is formatted with qualifying tournaments for 128 singles players and 64 doubles teams. Players and teams from the qualifying tournaments must win three rounds before advancing to the main draws, consisting of the top 64 singles players and 32 doubles teams. Velicka has been invited to the main singles draw, while Garrison and Ivanov will be competing in the singles qualifying event. Garrison, along with Long, will also play in the doubles team qualifying tournament.

Selection for the tournament is based on pre-season national rankings and results from summer tournaments.

“I'm very proud of these players,” said Lockwood. “To have four individuals competing is a great compliment to them as well as the OU tennis program.”

The final two tournaments for the Sooners will be the Wilson/ITA Regional Championships on Oct. 20-24 in Tulsa and the UNLV Invitational from Nov. 4-6 in Las Vegas.

Lockwood, who is in his 18th year at Oklahoma, returns eight letterwinners. With a 17-7 overall record, the team went 2-5 in the Big 12 and finished sixth in the conference. For the first time since 1997, the Sooners earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, where they dropped a 4-3 decision to South Carolina in the first round.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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