May 16, 2004

Tulsa, Oklahoma - The top-ranked and defending national champion Illinois Fighting Illini is one of 16 teams to advance to the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the campus of The University of Tulsa for the 2004 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships. The NCAA Championships will begin on Saturday, May 22 and conclude on Sunday, May 31.

The opening two rounds of the 2004 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships were completed today. Illinois was just one of nine seeded teams to survive an upset-ridden NCAA Tournament first/second round.

Illinois (30-0) recorded their 62nd straight win, 4-0 over Arizona State in Champaign to advance to Saturday's round of 16. This will be the Fighting Illini's third straight Sweet 16 appearance and they will next face Harvard.

Second-seeded Southern California topped California 4-1 to also advance. But overall it was a rough weekend for top 16 men's seeds, as seven suffered upset losses in the second round. Moving on to the final 16 are: No. 3 Baylor, No. 4 UCLA, No. 6 Virginia, No. 7 Florida, No. 10 Stanford, No. 16 Harvard, and non-top 16 seeds Texas A&M, TCU, Clemson, Ohio State, Rice Arkansas and 2003 national runner-up Vanderbilt.

Clemson provided the biggest of the men's tournament, beating fifth-seeded Duke 4-3 in Durham, N.C., on Sunday. It will be the 12th Sweet 16 appearance for Clemson and first since 1989. In the other upsets Vanderbilt cruised pas No. 8 Mississippi, 4-1, Ohio State topped No. 11 North Carolina 4-3, TCU edged No. 12 Kentucky 4-2, Texas A&M beat No. 13 Virginia Commonwealth 4-0, Rice topped No. 14 LSU and Arkansas topped No. 15 Tennessee 4-1.

UCLA will be making its 28th NCAA Sweet 16 appearance in as many years after beating Pepperdine 4-0 today. The Bruins are the only team to reach the men's final 16 every year since the current championship format was first established in 1977. Stanford, playing in its final NCAAs under legendary coach Dick Gould beat Washington 4-2 today to advance the final 16 for the 16th time in 17 years. Georgia, the No. 9 seed outlasted Texas, 4-2, and advances to its 23rd NCAA Championships appearance.

NCAA Round of 16 - Saturday (Tulsa, Okla.)
Illinois vs. Harvard
Georgia vs. Vanderbilt
Texas A&M vs. UCLA
TCU vs. Clemson
Southern California vs. Arkansas
Stanford vs. Florida
Baylor vs. Rice
Ohio State vs. Virginia

Match times will be announced Monday

For ticket information, please visit the official NCAA Championships website: www.TulsaHurricane.com or call (918) 631-GoTU (4688).