Buikema and Thibaudeau Open NCAA Doubles Championships Thursday
5/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 20, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Men's tennis seniors Dan Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau will play in their third consecutive NCAA Men's Doubles Championships beginning Thursday at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas. The duo will take on familiar foes in Boise State junior Kean Feeder and freshman James Meredith in the opening round. The time is yet to be determined.
This will be the third meeting this season between these two teams with both winning one of the previous matches. In the first contest, Buikema and Thibaudeau came out on top 8-4 at the Blue Gray Collegiate Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Ala. The last meeting took place just 11 days ago where Feeder and Meredith won a 9-8(10) barnburner in the second round of the NCAA Championships.
The Broncos pair finished the season with a record of 21-8 en route to capturing WAC All-Tournament Doubles honors. Feeder and Meredith earned a pair of wins over ranked opponents this season and have had four matches go into a tiebreaker, all of which they won.
Buikema and Thibaudeau enter the tournament with an overall record of 16-10 which includes six wins over ranked opponents. In the previous two NCAA Doubles Championships, the Alabama tandem made it to the first round where it was paired up with the tournament's overall No. 1 seed on both occasions. Last season, Buikema and Thibaudeau fell to top-ranked Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey of Virginia and in 2007 to Illinois' Ryan Rowe and Kevin Anderson where the Illini duo came out on top.
For more information on the tournament, visit AggieAthletics.com or click here.
Players Mentioned
