Ferrum Release 4-5-03

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gary Holden, Sports Info. Director
(540) 365-4306

April 5, 2003

Men's Tennis Team Wins Bud Skeens Memorial
Panthers Win Six Titles en Route to Team Championship

Ferrum, Va. -- The Ferrum College men's tennis team won the 2003 Bud Skeens Memorial Tournament this afternoon, scoring 30 points to outdistance runner-up University of District of Columbia, and NCAA Division II team, which scored 14 points. Ferrum won three singles titles and swept all three doubles titles en route to the team title.

In a complete team effort, every Ferrum player won either a singles or doubles title. Freshmen Matt Brantley (Norlina, N.C./Warren County) and Erich Trier (Middleburg, Va./Loudoun Valley) won the #3 and #5 singles titles, respectively. Later in the day, Brantley would also help win a doubles title. Junior Matt Rhodes (Virginia Beach, Va./Cox) also picked up a singles title, winning at the #6 spot. Freshman Gabe Zakkak (Midland, Va./Liberty) and senior Rod Baker (Maumee, Ohio/Maumee) won the title at #1 doubles, while Brantley and freshman Paul Matthews (Richmond, Va./J.R. Tucker) won at #2 doubles, and freshmen David Gartrell (Hamilton, Va./Loudoun Valley) and Ben Brannon (Mattituck, N.Y./Mattituck) won the #3 doubles title. The event is named after the late Col. Earl G. (Bud) Skeens, long-time tennis coach and history professor at Ferrum. Skeens, pictured above and at left with Ferrum tennis alumni Lew Hege '69, ammassed an impressive 345-41 career coaching mark (.894) in 26 years as the Panthers' head coach.

Skeens coached 13 undefeated teams, complied a 77-match win streak, and at one point won 99 of 100 matches. He was the Region X Coach of the Year three times, won 14 Cavalier-Tarheel Conference Coach of the Year awards, and was inducted into Ferrum College's Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. Skeens passed away in November of 2002 after a short bout with cancer. The College has plans in the near future to refurbish its tennis facility in honor of Skeens.

University of DC won a pair of singles title in finishing second. Rounding out the team scores were Villa Julie College with nine points and one singles title, and St. Mary's College of Maryland with 8 points. Ferrum is 12-2 overall this season, setting new school records for season wins and for winning streak, seven matches. These records are for modern-day era only (NCAA Division III years: 1986-present) and do not include Ferrum's junior college era. The Panthers host Methodist College Sunday, April 6, in a Dixie Conference match at 1 p.m. For more information, please contact the Ferrum sports information office at (540) 365-4306.
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