Bulldogs Draw Familiar Foe Kentucky to Open NCAA Championships

May 4, 2005

Horizon League champion Butler will travel to Kentucky to take on the 12th-seeded Wildcats in the opening round of the NCAA Championships for the second straight season. The NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Subcommittee announced the bracket Wednesday afternoon on ESPNews. First-round competition will begin Saturday, May 14 with exact times announced later in the week.

Butler (15-12) and Kentucky (20-9) tangled last season at UK's Boone Tennis Complex. The Wildcats came away with a 4-0 win in a match that was much tighter than the score indicated.

No. 18 Florida State and No. 75 Ball State complete the four-team sub-bracket in Lexington. The second-round match is scheduled for Sunday, May 15 with the winner of each site advancing to the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas, May 21-24.

Butler won its fourth consecutive Horizon League crown (and seventh in coach Jason Suscha's eight seasons) April 24, winning both of its matches by 4-0 counts. Sophomore James Low brings a 20-12 record into NCAA Tournament play at the top singles spot. He's followed in the line-up by Andy Bartish, Parker Ross, Evan West, Mike Weaver and Tony Aker. Butler has won seven straight matches entering the tournament.

Kentucky moved up three spots (from No. 14 to No. 11) in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) team rankings this week and earns an at-large bid into the bracket, the 10th consecutive season the Wildcats have been part of the field. Senior Jesse Witten remains in the top five of the ITA singles and doubles rankings (with fellow senior Tigran Martirosyan). Junior Alex Hume entered the singles rankings at No. 101 last week but dropped to No. 116 in this week's rankings. The team's 2005 campaign included wins at No. 5 Illinois and No. 10 LSU.

The teams will play a single-elimination tournament at 16 first- and second-round sites (four teams at each site) and the finals site (16-team bracket) to determine the national champion. The matches shall be regulation dual matches with three (3) eight-game, pro-set doubles played for one team point, followed by six (6) singles matches, each valued at one team point, played best of three sets. Regular scoring will be used and a 12-point tiebreaker will be played at eight games all in doubles and at six games all in singles.

Kentucky's women's team will also host an NCAA Regional that weekend in Lexington.

Story Provided by John Dedman, Butler Sports Information