NCAA Championships Begin Against Ducks

PALO ALTO -- The NCAA 2007 Division 1 Tennis Championships kick off Friday at Stanford with No. 28 BYU against No. 41 Oregon.

The Mountain West Conference Champion Cougars are led off the court by the MWC Coach of the Year, Craig Manning. On the court they are led by the MWC Co-Player of the year, No. 82 Anastasia Surkova.

Manning's team enters the tournament with a 21-6 record on the year with an 11-6 record against nationally ranked teams. Four of those losses came against teams ranked in the top 20. But despite the success the team has had this year, Manning and his players have kept a level head.

"We're trying to focus on fundamentals, but this time of the year we're not going to get the girls any better," Manning said. "We are just trying to get their minds in the best place we can and get as healthy as we can before the tournament starts."

2007 marks BYU's 18th trip to the NCAA Championships with ninth place as the team's highest finish, which it reached six times. Other teams representing the MWC include San Diego State, TCU and UNLV.

The tournament is single elimination and the winner of Friday's match will likely play No. 1 Stanford on the Cardinal's home courts. Friday's match will begin at 10 a.m. PDT and live stats can be seen at http://gostanford.cstv.com/livestats/tennis/StanfordTennis.html.