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May 18, 2005

NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Tulane women's tennis team's quest for a national title continues on Thursday in the NCAA Tournament's Round of 16 when it puts a 17-match winning streak on the line against No. 3 Kentucky at 2 p.m. (CDT) at Georgia's Henry Feild Stadium.

Tulane, making its second consecutive Sweet 16 appearance is ranked No. 16 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) poll and enters Thursday's showdown with an overall mark of 25-5 and as the tournament's 14th seed. Winners of 23 of its last 24 and 17 straight, the Wave's winning streak is the second-longest in the nation, second only to top-ranked Stanford, who has a 52-match streak and has not lost since the 2003 season.

The Green Wave reached the Round of 16 with a 4-3 win over TCU in Saturday's NCAA second round at Goldring Tennis Center and a 4-0 shutout of Southeastern Louisiana in the tournament's opening round. Seniors Nancy Kockott and Ana Saaibi each picked up two singles wins over the weekend to help send Tulane back to Athens.

"We're excited to be making another trip to the Round of 16," Tulane head coach David Schumacher said. "Kentucky is very strong and well-coached. They are tough up and down the lineup, but if we play hard it will be a very competitive match."

Depth throughout the lineup has been one of the keys for the Wave's success this season, as evidenced in last weekend's wins. Tulane relied on wins from the four, five and six spots in Friday's win over Southeastern while the three, five and six players provided the firepower in the nailbiter over TCU.

The Green Wave roster includes five All-Conference USA selections in first-teamers Maria Ivanov and Jenny Kuehn , second-team selections Darya Ivanov and Julie Smekodub and third-team pick Kockott. Kuehn and Kockott are also ranked in the most recent ITA singles rankings 47th and 106th, respectively. On the doubles chart, the sister duo of Maria and Darya Ivanov, named the Outstanding Doubles Team of the Conference USA Tournament, hold the spot at No. 31, while Tulane's No. 2 team of Smekodub and Kuehn sit at No. 42.

Kentucky, which sports an identical 25-5 record, earned a spot in the Sweet 16 by defeating Marshall 4-0 in the first round and holding off Wake Forest, 4-2, in round two. The Southeastern Conference champion's roster features All-Americans Aibika Kalsarieva, ranked No. 3 in the ITA singles poll, and No. 64 Sarah Foster, who pair to form the seventh-ranked doubles team in the nation. Sophomore Kim Coventry holds the ITA's No. 30 singles spot while teaming with Joelle Schwenk for the No. 22 doubles tandem.

Thursday afternoon's winner will face either Texas or Georgia Tech in the national quarterfinal on Friday afternoon. Live Scoring is available for all matches of the 2005 NCAA Women's Tennis Championships.