The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Men's Tennis reaches No. 3 in ITA team rankings
03.28.2006 | Men's Tennis
AUSTIN, Texas -- The University of Texas men's tennis program, victorious in its last 10 matches, ascended to No. 3 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings released Tuesday.
The ranking is the highest for the program in 12 seasons and is the top rank reached under sixth-year coach Michael Center. The Longhorns most recently reached No. 3 in the collegiate tennis rankings on April 12, 1994 under coach Dave Snyder.
Texas reached No. 4 in the rankings on March 14 before slipping to No. 5 last week after not playing the previous week. The Longhorns vaulted to No. 3 on the strength of victories over Texas-San Antonio, No. 15 Notre Dame, Texas Southern and SMU within the last week.
Helgeson Named Big 12 Player of the Week
The Big 12 Conference selected UT sophomore All-American Travis Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan.) as its Men's Tennis Player of the Week Tuesday in recognition of his stellar performances last week.
Helgeson went 4-0 in singles and doubles play last week and defeated highly-ranked opponents in singles action. He rallied for a three-set victory over Notre Dame's 14th-ranked Stephen Bass, helping the Longhorns to a 6-1 victory over the Fighting Irish. Helgeson added a straight-set win over SMU's 56th-ranked Peter Oredsson as UT blanked the Mustangs, 7-0.
Helgeson also tallied an 8-4 doubles victory against Notre Dame with freshman Michael Venus (Orlando, Fla.). He is UT's first Big 12 Men's Tennis Player of the Week since March 14, 2006, when Callum Beale earned the selection.
