Wake Forest Athletics
Men's Tennis Jumps In Polls
4/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 19, 2005
Winston-Salem, NC - The Wake Forest men's tennis team reached the No.17 spot in this weeks Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll, announced the organization on Tuesday. It ties the highest that the Deacons have been ranked in head coach Jeff Zinn's nine years at the helm of the men's program.
The Deacons defeated fifth-ranked Duke, 6-1 and Virginia Tech, 7-0 last week to improve upon their 25th place ranking. The victory against the Blue Devils was the first in 24 years. Wake Forest last beat Duke, 6-3 in 1981, a span of 30 games without a Deacon win.
Derrick Spice, who knocked off Duke's third-ranked Ludovic Walter and Virginia Tech's 79th-ranked Stephane Rod last week, was named the ACC Performer of the Week on Monday. He also moved up in the singles polls from 80th to 54th.
Spice is joined in the top-100 singles poll by teammates Todd Paul (51st) and Andrew Hamar (91st).
"This puts us in the hunt to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament," noted Zinn. "The possibility to host was one of our goals this season, so I'm proud of the guys and their effort during the year and I hope the ranking is a good indicator of how far we've come."
The Deacons, who finished the regular season 15-5 and 7-3 in the conference, set a school record for most regular season conference wins. Wake Forest is seeded fourth in this weekend's upcoming ACC Tournament and will face fifth-seeded Clemson on Friday, April 22 in Cary, N.C.
Players Mentioned
