(San Bruno, Calif.) - USF men's tennis was picked to finish third in the West Coast Conference for 2010, as announced by the conference office Tuesday. The poll was voted on by the head coaches in the conference, who were not allowed to vote for their own team. Pepperdine was selected as the favorite in the poll, with San Diego coming in second.
2009 WCC Champion Pepperdine garnered seven first place votes for a total of 49 points in the men's poll. The Waves are currently ranked No. 17 in the ITA national rankings. San Diego, last year's second place finisher in the WCC, received the remaining first place vote and a total of 41 points to take second place in the preseason poll. San Francisco was picked third with 33 points, while Santa Clara came in fourth with one less point than the Dons. Loyola Marymount received 24 points, edging out Portland, who received 21 points from the coaches. Saint Mary's came in seventh with 16 points, and Gonzaga rounded out the poll with eight.
The Dons will attempt to open the 2010 spring season, for the fourth time, this weekend, when they travel to Southern California. USF will face off against Loyola Marymount Saturday at Noon before taking on UC Irvine Sunday at Noon.
The Dons enjoyed a strong fall season, which included hosting the inaugural Battle of the Bay Classic. During the fall campaign, USF advanced a total of seven to semifinal action and one to the final round during singles play. In doubles action, San Francisco advanced three teams to the semifinals at different events.
The highlight of the fall campaign was the first Battle of the Bay Classic, hosted by the Dons at the California Tennis Club. San Francisco's Thai Tu advanced to the semifinals of the singles bracket at the event, while the Dons' duo of Rainer Nachbauer and Will Schumacher fell in the finals of doubles action to a duo from Stanford.
The Lions are led by, preseason all-conference pick, Ivan Lopez. Lopez is expected to play No. 1 singles for LMU.
USF has tried to open the 2010 spring campaign on three occasions - all three have been called off due to rain.
