UD No. 1 women's singles player Elly Giese UD No. 1 men's singles player Sanjay Khindri

DATE: April 17, 2002

RICHMOND, VA -- Both the University of Delaware men's and women's tennis teams are seeded sixth and will take on No. 3 seed Old Dominion University in the quarterfinals of the Colonial Athletic Association championships Friday morning at 9 a.m.

The Blue Hens, making their first ever appearance in the single elimination tournament as first year members of the CAA, completed their regular season play earlier this week. The Delaware men will take a 10-6 dual record into the tournament while the UD women bring in a record of 7-10.

The CAA Tournament, whose champions earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament in May, will begin on Thursday, April 18 with play-in matches for both men and women. This will be the 19th annual men's tournament and the 18th annual women's tournament. The Virginia Commonwealth men have won each of the last six titles while Old Dominion is the defending champion on the women's side, having snapped William & Mary's run of 15 straight titles last year.

The CAA Tournament gets underway on Thursday. On the women's side, No. 7 Towson will take on No. 10 Hofstra at 11 a.m. at the Thalhimer Tennis Center on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. No. 8 Drexel will take on No. 9 George Mason at 2 p.m. The men's play-in games will be played at Byrd Park in Richmond with No. 7 Towson taking on No. 10 Hofstra at 11 a.m. and No. 8 Drexel taking on No. 9 George Mason at 2 p.m.

Friday's women's quarterfinal action at VCU will feature No. 3 Old Dominion vs. No. 6 Delaware at 9 a.m., No. 2 VCU vs. the Towson-Hofstra winner at 11:30 a.m., No. 1 William & Mary vs. the Drexel-George Mason winner at 2 p.m., and the No. 4 James Madison vs. No. 5 UNC Wilmington match at 4:30 p.m. Semifinals will be held Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. at Byrd Park with the finals set for Sunday at 1 p.m. at Byrd Park.

Friday's men's quarterfinal action at Byrd Park will feature No. 3 Old Dominion vs. No. 6 Delaware at 9 a.m., No. 2 William & Mary vs. the Towson vs. Hofstra winner at 11:30 p.m., No. 1VCU vs. the Drexel-George Mason winner at 2 p.m., and the No. 4 James Madison vs. No. 5 UNC Wilmington match at 4:30 p.m. Semifinals will be held Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. at Byrd Park with the finals set for Sunday at 10 a.m. at Byrd Park.

The Delaware men enter the tournament with a four-match win streak and will take in a singles lineup of Sanjay Khindri (9-13) at the No. 1 spot, John Tully (14-6) at No. 2, Robert Wirth (3-6) at No. 3, Lee Kennedy (12-7) at No. 4, Dustin Lewis (14-7) at No. 5, and David Mouber (8-1) at No. 6. Mouber, who has won five straight singles matches, will set a school record by playing in his 71st career singles match, breaking the record of 70 by Ira Bernstein in 1995-99.

The Blue Hen women also enter the tournament riding a four-match win streak, having snapped a 10-match losing streak in the process. Head coach Laura Travis will enter with a singles lineup of Elly Giese (13-7) at No. 1, Jessica Wilkes (10-11) at No. 2, Anisha Talati (12-9) at No. 3, Martine Street (9-6) at No. 4, Christine Knox (12-4) at No. 5, and Beth Principe (9-8) at No. 6. Knox enters the tournament having won six straight matches. Giese is Delaware's fifth all-time singles wins leader with a career mark of 53-32.

The UD men last won a conference tennis title in 1997 as members of the America East conference. The Delaware women placed second each of the previous eight seasons at the America East tournament and last won a league title in 1989 as members of the East Coast Conference.