Miami Host BIG EAST Tennis Championships

April 18, 2000

Coral Gables, FL – The University of Miami will host the men’s and women’s BIG EAST Conference Tennis Championships, April 20-23, at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center in Coral Gables and the Tennis Center at Crandon Park on Key Biscayne. Play will begin at 9 a.m. each morning and admission is free.

The Hurricane men enter the tournament with a 16-4 record, a No. 18 national ranking and the championship’s No. 1 seed. Miami has won five of the last seven BIG EAST Championships. Challenging the Hurricanes will be defending champion and second-seed Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish enter their fifth BIG EAST Championship with a record of 10-9 and a No. 29 national ranking. Notre Dame defeated Miami, 4-3, in last season’s championship match. Miami and Notre Dame have faced off for the BIG EAST Championship in each of the last four seasons with each school winning twice.

Notre Dame’s women’s team enters the BIG EAST Championship as the No. 1 seed. The Fighting Irish, ranked 13th in the nation, are looking to defend their 1999 BIG EAST Championship and win their fourth championship since joining the conference in 1996.

Miami, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, is looking to win its sixth BIG EAST Tennis Championship in the last nine seasons. Miami, which defeated the Fighting Irish for the 1998 title, has faced Notre Dame for the BIG EAST Championship in each of the last four seasons.

Third-seeded Syracuse will test Notre Dame and Miami. The 75th-ranked Orangewomen enter the BIG EAST Championships with an impressive 14-5 record including five straight dual match wins.