NCAA Tournament Tuesdays: 2003 Men's Tennis

2003 Men’s Tennis
 The 2003 men’s tennis team was invited to the NCAA Tournament for their seventh straight year following a 13-win and 7-loss regular season. The Canes entered the tournament ranked No. 30 in the nation. Key wins throughout the season came against Clemson University and No. 10 Texas A&M, securing the Canes a spot in the NCAA Tournament.

In the first round of the tournament, Miami had a tough opponent in No. 31 Florida State. The Hurricanes took an early 1-0 lead, winning two-of-three doubles matches. Andrew Golub and Colin Purcell proved to be a tough duo, defeating their opponents in a tight 8-6 doubles match. Todd Widom and Eric Hechtman fended off their opponents, as well, to win 8-6. No. 21 Widom won his singles match in straight sets to provide another point for the Hurricanes. Unfortunately, this lone singles point was not enough to save the Hurricanes. Miami lost 4-2 to FSU.

Notable individual performances throughout the season came from Widom and Golub, who were both selected to the Big East All-Tournament Team in singles. Widom was also awarded the Most Outstanding Tournament Player in the Big East Conference Championship and was invited to the NCAA Individual Men’s Tennis Championships, where he was the first Cane since Conny Falk in 1990 to finish in the semi-finals. In addition to these accomplishments, Widom’s exceptional play was recognized when he was one of 10 players selected to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association-USA All-Star team. That year the ITA-USA All-Stars traveled to Japan to face Japan’s No. 1 ranked Waseda University and a Japanese All-Star team.

With the resignation of head coach Jay Berger at the end of the 2002 season, there was major obstacle for the Miami tennis program to overcome. Bryan Getz, who was the assitant coach under Berger for two seasons, was selected as interim head coach. Rather than  faltering under the pressure put on him by his newly acquired position, Getz maintained the high level of excellence established by Berger. The Canes flourished under Getz’s guidance,  making it to their seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

In 2003, Bryan Getz became head coach of the Hurricanes tennis team, coaching the Canes to a 13-win season and a berth into the NCAA Tournament.

Getz was a top tennis prospect, ranking No. 1 in both singles and doubles in the state of Florida when he was 18 years old. He went on to play tennis at Duke University. Unfortunately, Getz’s collegiate career was cut short due to multiple shoulder injuries. In 2001 and 2002, Getz was named assistant coach for the University of Miami men’s tennis team, where he learned under head coach Jay Berger, before replacing him in 2003.