Oct. 1, 2004

WACO, Texas - Men's tennis' Barry McLaren traveled to Tennessee this weekend, Oct. 1-3, to participate in the prequalifying rounds of the 2004 Icy/Hot ITA All-American Championships at the Champions Club in Chattanooga, Tenn. The sophomore won his first match then lost the second to bow out of the tournament.

In the first round of action on Friday, the round of 256, McLaren quickly disposed of Marijan Panzic of Bradley University 6-1, 6-0. The victory advanced McLaren to the round of 128 where he faced Arant Sitaram of Middle Tennessee. Sitaram sat out the first round with a bye and McLaren, with a match under his belt already, took the first set 6-2. However, Sitaram rebounded and won the next two sets, both by scores of 6-4 to claim the victory. The loss eliminated McLaren, Baylor's lone entrant, from the tournament and sends Sitaram on to the round of 64.

In its 25th year of existence, the ITA Men's Championships is the first of three national singles and doubles titles of the 2004-05 collegiate season. The ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships in November and the NCAA Championships in May are the other two national titles.

The field of over 300 athletes is the largest singles tournament of the year in collegiate tennis. This weekend, 192-singles players and 96-doubles teams compete to make the cut to 128-singles and 64-doubles slots in the qualifying tournament Oct. 4-6. The main draw of the tournament will consist of 64-singles and 32-doubles teams Oct. 7-10.

For complete results visit the ITA's official website: www.itatennis.com