Wake Forest Athletics
Spice Invited To Play In NCAA Singles Tournament
5/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 6, 2005
Winston-Salem, N.C. - Wake Forest senior Derrick Spice has been selected to the 64-player field in the NCAA Singles Tournament to be held in College Station, Texas later this month. The full bracket will be released on May 24. Spice will make his second straight NCAA Singles Tournament appearance.
Spice is the 47th-ranked player in the nation, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. He owns an overall record of 17-16 and a 9-8 record at the No. 1 singles position. The native of North Olmsted, Ohio, went 7-3 against ACC opponents in the regular season.
Spice enters the postseason on a hot streak, having won eight of his last 11 singles matches. Three of those victories have come against opponents ranked in the top 25, including Clemson's Nathan Thompson, the ACC Player of the Year, 12th-ranked Doug Stewart of Virginia and fifth-ranked Ludovic Walter of Duke.
Earlier this year, Spice was named to the All-ACC team for the third time in his career. He is the only player in Wake Forest history to accomplish the feat.
With 88 career victories on his resume, Spice needs just one more win to crack the top five on Wake Forest's career singles chart.
In last year's NCAA Tournament, Spice lost his first round match to Arkansas' Adrians Zguns in three sets.
Sophomore Todd Paul was not named to the field of 64, but is listed as the fifth alternate and could be invited to play if five members of the original field withdraw.
The team championships will be held from May 14-24. The singles tournament is scheduled for May 25-30.
Players Mentioned
