Jan. 14, 2004

MALIBU, Calif. - The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) announced its preseason rankings yesterday, which has the Pepperdine men's tennis team ranked 27th and the women's tennis team ranked 42nd nationally. Each member of an ITA regional committee votes on the team rankings.

The men received 1,168 votes in the team voting, while the women earned 782, respectively. On the men's side, senior Calle Hansen garnered a national singles ranking of 29th and sophomore Natalie Braverman grabbed the No. 67th position for the women.

The Pepperdine men's spring slate has them facing off against ranked opponents in seven of their first 12 events, including top-ranked Illinois on Jan. 31st. The women waste no time by playing the countries best in eight of their first nine contests, including No. 6 USC and No. 11 UCLA.

Both teams will open their spring season next week. The Pepperdine women's team will host Cal Poly on Monday, Jan. 19, at 11:00 a.m., and the men host UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday, Jan. 21, beginning at 1 p.m.