April 29, 2004

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Senior Lee Taylor Walker capped his Tiger tennis career in style with a first-team all Conference USA honor, it was announced Thursday. Walker, who is the No. 96 ranked singles player in the country in the latest poll released Tuesday, guided the Tigers to their first-ever C-USA Semifinal appearance in the league tournament two weeks ago. The Jackson, Tenn. native capped his senior season with a 15-10 mark at No. 1 singles and a 15-6 mark at No. 1 doubles with sophomore James Spence.

Walker finished his three-year Tiger career with a 49-28 dual singles record and a 54-43 overall singles mark while a Memphis Tiger. Walker transferred to Memphis from Clemson as a sophomore, before teaming with Tiger teammate Ben Stapp as the Tigers' No. 1 doubles duo ranking as high as No. 12 in the nation in doubles in the fall of 2002. Walker is the first Tiger to ever receive a first-team All-Conference USA honor, and the first Tiger since 1994 to earn a first team honor from any conference Memphis has belonged to. Brian Cox was a Great Midwest All-Conference award winner in 1994. Memphis has had an All-Conference USA honoree in five of the past six seasons, starting with Richard Magney in 1999 and most recently ending with Walker.

The Tigers finished the 2004 season with a 15-11 overall record, falling to eventual conference champ, Tulane, in the C-USA Semifinals. During the league tournament, the Tigers gave Tiger Head Coach Phil Chamberlain his 100th career victory, and used a 4-3 win over USF to help vault Memphis back to No. 74 in the country in the latest ITA polls.

Tulane swept the conference special awards, with senior Michael Kogan earning his fourth straight Player of the Year award. Tulane head coach Robert Klein was named the league coach of the year, while Green Wave freshman David Goulet picked up the freshman of the year award. Walker was joined on the first team by Kogan and Tulane's Dmitriy Koch, Louisville's Matt Mayer, TCU's Alex Menichini and USF's Uli Kiendl. TCU's Hector Almada and Fabrizio Sestini, USF's Fredy Barton, USM's David Canudas, SLU's Ikaika Jobe and UAB's Tobi Klein made up the second team, while Charlotte's Arturo Aguirre, Marquette's Raj Gill, DePaul's Mark Henderson, Louisville's Damar Johnson, TCU's Jacopo Tezza and Tulane' David Goulet and Jacobo Hernandez made up the third team.

Hector Almada from TCU and Jacobo Hernandez from Tulane shared the Singles Player of the Championship award, while the Doubles Team of the Championship Award went to TCU's Alex Menichini and Jacob Martin.

The field for the NCAA Men's Tennis Championships will be announced Wednesday, May 5th at 4 p.m. (ET) on ESPNews. The First and Second Rounds will be conducted at 16 different sites and will offer 64 teams a shot at the NCAA title beginning May 14-16, 2004. The NCAA Championships will be hosted by the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Okla., May 22-31.