Sept. 23, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. - Sophomore Christian Tempke (Wentorf, Germany/Gymnasium Lohbrugge) will travel to Waco, Tex. for the Baylor Intercollegiate Tournament this weekend, Sept. 24-26, to begin the Wildcats' 2004-05 fall season.
"This is a great opportunity for Christian to be invited down to a tournament put on by the reigning national champions," Head Coach Paul Torricelli said.
Tempke is coming off a solid freshman year, in which he went 18-11 in singles action, including a 12-8 record in duals and a 5-4 record in the Big Ten. As the lone Wildcat in action this weekend, Tempke will compete in the singles portion of the tournament, with the first round set to begin Friday, Sept. 24 at 8 a.m.
The weekend tournament will feature players from 22 other schools - making up the largest field the Bears will host all year.
In singles play, team representatives will be broken down into two brackets, A and B; while doubles matches will be lumped into one group. The format of singles matches in the morning followed by doubles matches in the afternoon will be consistent throughout the weekend.
The championship matches will be held on Sunday, Sept. 26 in the afternoon.
While Tempke is the only member of NU's team playing this weekend, the entire team will get their first taste of competition in Chattanooga, Tenn. next weekend, Oct. 1 - 3, at the ITA All-American Championships.
As a whole, the `Cats return a veteran-laden squad for the 2004-05 season with everyone from last year's team coming back except for former captain Ahmed Wahla. Everyone lettered in '04 and the `Cats will be led by the strong senior class of Justin Hoeveler (Ross, Calif./The Branson School), Chuck Perrin (Atlanta, Ga./The Walker School) and Tommy Hanus (Palatine, Ill./Palatine).
Torricelli has named Hoeveler Perrin his captains, while Hanus comes into the season currently ranked No. 69 in polls. Hanus is the only NU player to be ranked and will join Tempke next weekend in the Qualifier portion of the ITA All-American Tournament. The rest of the team will compete in the pre-qualifier portion of the tournament.