Men's Tennis Heads To WCC Tournament at San Diego
4/10/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 10, 2003
SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga University men's and women's tennis teams will wrap up the season this weekend as they begin West Coast Conference Tournament action Friday morning. The men's team is competing at the University of San Diego while the women's team plays at Pepperdine University.
Freshman Bryce Cooper and senior Shaun Whitney lead the Gonzaga men's team (4-15), as Cooper is 4-9 at No. 1 and Whitney is 3-9 in the second position. Sophomore Drew Ernst is 9-8 overall playing at four. The doubles team of Cooper and Ernst are 5-10 in No. 1 play. The men capped regular-season play with a win 7-0 sweep of the Eastern Washingto University Eagles Tuesday at the Martin Courts.
The Pepperdine men's team is on a 12-year win streak as they claimed the WCC title every year since 1991. Gonzaga has finished eighth over the last two years as their highest finish came during 1996 when they were sixth overall.
The women are 6-18 overall this season and are led by junior Jamie Buterbaugh and freshman Kendall Bates. Buterbaugh has posted a 6-14 record overall while playing in the No. 1 spot for the Bulldogs, as Bates is currently 6-13 in the second spot. The duo has also combined for a 4-9 finish as GU's No. 1 doubles pair.
Seniors Aaryn Volkmann and Katie Rock will be making their last appearance for Gonzaga over the weekend. Volkmann is 6-10 in the third spot while Rock is 6-10 at No. 4.
The Gonzaga women's team finished regular season play with two consecutive wins as they edged the University of Montana Grizzlies 3-2 during limited four and one play Saturday and swept EWU 7-0 Monday at home.
The Bulldogs finished eighth in the Women's WCC tournament over the last two seasons with a program-best sixth place finish in 1996. Host Pepperdine has won 14 team titles in the last 15 years.
Matches for both the men's and women's WCC tournaments begin at 9 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning.
