DiSesa, Searle, Haerle Receive NCAA Individual Bids
5/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 4, 2006
HOUSTON -- Rice seniors Blair DiSesa, Robert Searle and Tony Haerle will all finish their collegiate careers at Palo Alto, Calif., in the NCAA Men's and Women's Tennis Championships singles and doubles tournament, the NCAA announced Thursday.
DiSesa, the 2006 Conference USA player of the year, is the first member of the women's program to earn a berth into the individual tournament since 1998 when Vessie Ivanova and Sarah Borwell were in the doubles tournament. She is also the first singles qualifier since Wendy Wood in 1986. The Owl is ranked 80th nationally with her 24-14 overall record. DiSesa led Rice to the program's first conference crown on April 23.
Searle and Haerle are ranked 18th nationally in doubles with their 13-5 record in duals this spring. The pair earned all-conference honors and named the most outstanding doubles team of the Conference USA tournament. Searle also received his fourth-straight bid to the singles championship.
Both the men's and women's programs also earned bids in the team championships, marking the first time both programs have competed in the national tournament in the same year. The women head to Fort Worth to take on TCU on May 12 at 6 pm. The men are off to Austin to face Louisiana-Lafayette on May 13 at 3 pm.
Both singles championships feature 64 players while the doubles tournament has 32 pairs. The final brackets will be announced at the championships on May 22 for the women and May 23.
