Oct. 23, 2008
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Junior Meedo El Tabakh and sophomores Waylon Chin and Abe Souza of the Illinois men's tennis team are set to begin action at the 2008 Crimson Tide Fall Championships hosted in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Oct. 24-26. Action will be held at the University of Alabama Tennis Stadium, Recreation Courts and Hank Crisp Indoor Facility. A total of 116 players from 18 universities will take part in the three-day event.
"This weekend is a tremendous opportunity for our guys to face some of the top competition from around the country," Illinois head coach Brad Dancer said. "Each year Coach (Billy) Pate puts on a wonderful event that provides our players with an overall great experience."
The tournament will feature over 100 competitors from 18 different teams from around the country into singles and doubles brackets. The format of the tournament includes eight draws of 16 participants and two draws of 32 teams in doubles. There will also be a consolation round in both singles and doubles play. The 18 institutions represented at the Fall Championships are Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Georgia Southern, Illinois, Jacksonville State, Jacksonville University, Memphis, Mississippi State, Samford, South Florida, Southern Mississippi, Troy, UAB, UT-Chattanooga, UT-Martin, Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech.
The tournament schedule opens with the first round of doubles and first two rounds of singles on Friday. On Saturday, play will feature the doubles round of 16 and quarterfinals along with the semifinals of singles play. Competition wraps up on Sunday with both the semifinals and finals of doubles along with the singles finals. Action begins at 9 a.m. (CT) each day.
Fans can follow updated brackets throughout the tournament at the University of Alabama web site, www.rolltide.com, while a full recap of the Illini's weekend action can be found at fightingillini.com at the conclusion of play.
ILLINI PAST AND PRESENT HEAD TO LOUISVILLE CHALLENGER
In other Illini news, eight Illini, past and present, will travel to the Louisville Challenger this weekend for qualifying and main draw action. Current Illini Marc Spicijaric, Marek Czerwinski, Dennis Nevolo, and Roy Kalmanovich will meet up with Illinois alums G.D. Jones, Ruben Gonzales, Ryan Rowe and Kevin Anderson for the tournament.
"The Louisville Challenger is a great opportunity for all of the guys, past and present, to wear their Orange and Blue and face some of the best players in the world," Dancer added.
