We are now at that point of the year where all of our sports with the exception of volleyball are in season.
While our golf and baseball teams have not offically begun their spring seasons, they are both in full practice mode. The men's golf team will host the Mardi Gras Classic at TPC Louisiana in early February while baseball gets underway Feb. 20 against Towson.
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The men's tennis team got off to a strong start by defeating No. 59 ranked South Alabama 5-2 in Mobile, Ala. on Sunday.
Taking a glance around the nation, the Privateer men were the only non-ranked team in the country to knock off a ranked squad. All the ranked squads that did lose fell to teams also amongst the top 75 in the nation.
To take that win into further perspective, the Privateers have not defeated the Jaguars in documented school history. One of the most successful programs in the conference, USA has 18 conference titles in men's tennis to their school's resume. They have won more than 50 percent of the titles available in the sport since the conference began sponsoring men's tennis.
Our schedule features at least two other ranked squads as the men will play No. 43 SMU on Feb. 8 in Dallas, Texas with a short trip to No. 19 LSU on Feb. 28. Other than USA, the other ranked squad in the Sun Belt is No. 47 Denver, who the Privateers will not see until the conference tournament in Denton, Texas in mid-April.
Before the e-mails start rolling in and anyone asks about how individuals or teams are ranked, feel free to view this PDF from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association. Both of our UNO tennis teams were ranked in 2003, the first time each had been ranked at the same time.
The women are 0-3 on the season and got some positive news coverage for their program as WWL-TV got video of the No. 1 doubles team of Kozue Matsumoto and Cassandra Escobar defeating Tulane's No. 1 team.
While the dual against Tulane was my only visit out of the possible two thus far to the University Tennis Center, I am already planning a Wednesday visit to the men's match against Nicholls. For those who are interested in joining me, there are plenty opportunities in the months of February and March.
Another note about our tennis programs. If you recall in our last entry, I mentioned that we were working on restoring the record books for these two sports. While they are not complete, we have filled in many blanks since 1996 and are continuing to fill them in. Former student-athletes who may have some more information are encouraged to contact me at jplotkin@uno.edu, but for now - those wanting to view the record books can click to the below links:
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Speaking of tennis, we have begun a "Student-Athlete of the Week" feature on our web site. Calvin Kemp of our men's tennis team was tabbed with the honor this week after Kyndall Dykes received the honor the first two go arounds. These will be updated on Monday mornings, so check back every Monday for an update. All athletes that compete during the week are eligible with the sports information staff making the decision.
This feature replaces the previous "Student-Athlete of the Month". We feel that this will give more publicity to a far greater group of student-athletes and is something that many schools around the nation do. Do not fear, we will continue to do features on some of the great things our student-athletes are doing in the classroom as well, as we previously did.
For a list of past honorees, make sure to check out our
Student-Athlete of the Week Archives.
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Women's basketball announced last week that they will do their "Pink Zone" (formerly Think Pink) event on Feb. 11 when they take on North Texas. The event raises money for the WBCA/Kay Yow Fund, which is money towards awareness and research of breast cancer. Every men's and women's basketball before that game, fans are encouraged to stop by the appropriate table on the concourse or contact
Kearney Gay to donate to the cause. Last year, the women raised over $2000 and it would be nice if we could top that effort. Fans are also encouraged to wear pink for the contest.
Yow, the head coach at North Carolina State, passed away this past Saturday after losing her fight to breast cancer at the age of 66. We honored her memory with a moment of silence prior to the tip of the UNO game against Middle Tennessee that same night. The WBCA has asked coaches to wear upside down pink ribbons this week in memory of Yow.
You can find more information about our event, at this link:
Lady Privateers to Get in "Pink Zone" to Raise Funds for Breast Cancer Research on Feb. 11
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There were some game time changes from our original schedule for this weekend's basketball games at South Alabama. Remember, the most up to date schedule is always the one on UNOPrivateers.com as the schedule cards, schedule posters, programs and media guides go to the printer a month, if not longer before the season. Television and other factors always come into play, with every sport.
Our men's basketball game in Mobile, Ala. will begin at 2 p.m. with the game being televised by Cox Sports Television and Comcast Sports Southeast. The women will play at 5 p.m. in a non-televised contest, which will be available on UNO Vision. Both contests will be on WGSO 990 AM and WGSO.com for those who want to listen to Wags for the "hometown" feed. And let me bold this one, as I am sure a few of you will want to know this -- for those who forget to set their television to record, the replay of the game will be Monday, Feb. 1 at 6 p.m.
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That should cover all our bases for now. Look for plenty of stories this week between both basketball teams playing twice, the swim/dive program heading to LSU, quite a few tennis matches and there's no telling what else we'll make available.
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