Men's Tennis: WVU Set for Opener
January 23, 2003 05:12 PM | General
By Brady Smith for MSNsportsNET.com
January 23, 2003
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The West Virginia University men's tennis team begins its spring season on Sunday, Jan. 26, at BIG EAST rival Virginia Tech, at noon.
The Mountaineers look to build on a strong finish last spring and a successful fall season in which they compiled an 80-38 overall record, including three victories at the prestigious Region I Championships in late October.
West Virginia is led by sophomore Tony Epkey, who will man the No. 1 spot, and sophomore Ian Bliss, a transfer from Bowling Green, who should play at No. 2.
At No. 3 for WVU will be sophomore Eric Kochanski, who paced his squad with a 10-3 singles record in the fall.
Senior Chris Green, sophomore J.R. Randall and freshman Kyle Markham round out the rest of the slots for West Virginia.
The doubles combinations of Epkey/Kochanski, Bliss/Green and Randall/Markham are also scheduled to compete combined against the Hokies this weekend. The teams combined to win 21 out of 25 matches this fall and are among the conference's best.
"Virginia Tech may have the best team they've had in a long time, but I believe we do too," said coach Ed Dickson. "We're going to start four sophomores, one freshman and one senior, so we're young but we have a lot of potential. The team is really excited for this match."
