2005 BIG EAST Championship Women's Bracket

2005 BIG EAST Championship Men's Bracket
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April 18, 2005

Queens, NY - The St. John's women and men's tennis teams were both selected to participate in the 2005 BIG EAST Tennis Championships, hosted by future BIG EAST member, South Florida. With a 6-2 mark in the league, the women are the No. 4 seed and with a 3-2 conference record, the Red Storm men earned the No. 5 seed.

As the No. 4 seed in the tournament, the Red Storm women will face No. 5 West Virginia in the first round on Thursday, April 21 at 9:00 am. The winner of that match will move on to face No. 1 Notre Dame on Friday at 9:00 am. The loser will play on Friday at 3:00 pm in the consolation bracket.

Led by second year Head Coach Gemma Alexander-Mozeak, the St. John's women's team returns to the BIG EAST Tournament after a five-year absence. Last season, the Red Storm just missed the cut, but bounced back this season to post one of the program's top records in recent years. In its last BIG EAST Tournament appearance, the Red Storm finished 13th overall. The team has not qualified for the conference championship since the BIG EAST changed the format to a six-team tournament in 2001.

St. John's and West Virginia met earlier this season, with the Red Storm sweeping the match 7-0 on March 31 at Alley Pond Tennis Center in Queens, NY. After winning the doubles point with wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, the Red Storm went on to win all six singles matches to walk away with the 7-0 win.

The Red Storm women are on an eight-match winning streak, which includes five-straight conference matches. This past weekend, St. John's topped both Rutgers and Connecticut 7-0, dropping only two games against the Huskies. St. John's has been led by Allison Davidson (Cedar Falls, IA), who has a perfect 13-0 singles record, while Kristina Bothova (Bratislava, Slovakia) is 11-2 and Barbora Blahutiakova (Bratislava, Slovakia) and Lauren Leo (Staten Island, NY) each posses a 10-3 mark. In doubles play, Leo and freshman Mariana Chachua (Brooklyn, NY) have teamed up to win all six of their matches, while Bothova and Blahutiakova are 7-1.

The St. John's men's tennis team returns to the tournament for the third-straight year, having finished fourth last season. The Red Storm will face No. 4 seeded Georgetown in the first round on Thursday, April 21 at 9:00 am. The winner of that match will take on No. 1 Notre Dame on Friday at 9:00 am, the loser will play in the consolation bracket, beginning on Friday at 3:00 pm.

Georgetown defeated St. John's 4-3 on April 9 in Piscataway, NJ. The Red Storm were edged out in doubles play, losing the point that would decide the match. In singles action, David Nylen won his No. 1 match 6-3, 6-1 and Claudio Halim and Morgan Bauer won back-to-back three-set matches at No. 4 and No. 5.

After struggling early in the season, the Red Storm bounced back to win their final three matches of the regular season, all BIG EAST conference wins. The streak began on April 10 when the Red Storm beat Villanova 6-1, without dropping a set. St. John's went on to beat Boston College (4-3) and swept Connecticut in the season finale on April 16. David Nylen (Orebro, Sweden) has led the Red Storm with an 11-4 singles record. Claudio Halim (Jakarta, Indonesia) has an 8-7 singles record and, combined with Nick Stocker (Norwich, England), has a perfect 5-0 mark in doubles play.