May 5, 2008

PENSACOLA, Fla. - West Florida Tennis has earned the right to host the 1st and 2nd Rounds of the NCAA National Tennis Tournament in both the Men's and Women's Championships. Matches will be played on the UWF campus May 8th and 9th. In the Men's Bracket, Harding is the first opponent for the Argos, with the other first round match involving Ouachita Baptist and Tuskegee. In the Women's Bracket, the Argos are matched against Benedict College in round one, with the other first round match involving Delta State and Harding.

The 16th ranked UWF women will play first on Thursday with a 9 AM match against Benedict College. The Argos are 13-10 on the season, and coming off a 5-4 loss to 4th ranked Valdosta State in the GSC Championship match. Nine of the Argos ten losses this season have come against top 20 ranked teams or Division I opponents. The Argos have definitely been tested, and are the top seeded team in the four team South Regional tournament.

The 3rd ranked UWF men will start regional play at 1:00 pm on Thursday against Harding University. The Argonaut men have posted an impressive 20-3 record on the year. They fell to 2nd ranked Valdosta State in the GSC tournament in their last match; however, they defeated Valdosta State in the final regular season match. UWF could play two matches against GSC West Division teams this week. If they get by Harding, they would play the winner of Ouachita Baptist and Tuskegee. The Argos defeated Ouachita Baptist by a 5-4 score earlier this season.

If the Argonaut women defeat Benedict in the first round, they would play the winner of the Delta State vs. Harding match. West Florida defeated Delta State by a 7-2 score earlier this year. The Argonauts are led by the 3rd ranked singles player in the nation, Suzana Cavalcante, who has posted an impressive 17-8 record this season, with 15 matches against ranked opponents and Division I opponents. Cavalcante also teams up with Paola Arevalo, as the 5th ranked doubles team in the nation. The two have posted a 22-1 record playing at the number one doubles position. In singles, UWF's Renata Mattos has posted a 17-7 record, primarily at the number three singles position. Mattos and Tatiana Rodrigues have combined for a 17-3 record in doubles play this season.

The men's squad is led by 17th ranked Nicholas Barrientos and 23rd ranked Eduardo Cavasotti. Barrientos is 13-6 this season, while Cavasotti is 9-7 overall, with most of his matches at the number one singles position. Meanwhile, Freshman Patrick Bateman is undefeated in singles play at 12-0, with most of his matches coming at the number 5 and number 6 singles positions. Jose Ycaza has posted a singles mark of 13-6, while Carlos Zamora is currently 15-3 in singles play.

In doubles, the 18th ranked tandem of Barrientos and Bateman have turned in a record of 21-2, while the 13th ranked duo of Cavasotti and Luis Arboleda are 7-7 in the number one doubles slot. Luiz Bernardi and Jose Ycaza have turned in a steady 11-5 record at the number three doubles position.

The men's and women's teams need a pair of victories each this week to advance to the Sweet 16 of the National Tennis tournament, which will take place in Houston beginning May 14th. Both squads are making their 11th consecutive appearance in the NCAA championships, with the men winning it all in both 2004 and 2005.

Men's NCAA Regional Schedule (Check Women's Home Page for Women's Schedule):

Thursday, May 8th:

1:00 pm: WEST FLORIDA vs. Harding

3:00 pm: Ouachita Baptist vs. Tuskegee

Friday, May 9th:

12:00 pm: Men's Regional championship match