Oct. 2, 2006

Santa Clara, Calif. - Santa Clara's doubles team of Kevin McQuaid and Blane Shields departed today to take part in the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. The tournament, which started over the weekend, continues all week at the University of Tulsa. McQuaid and Shields will take on Chris Racz and Derek Stephens of the University of Tennessee in their first match on Tuesday, Oct. 2.

"It's an honor for Blane and Kevin to be invited to this prestigious tournament," said men's tennis head coach George Husack. "Their doubles success has given them the opportunity to compete against some of the nation's best players this week."

Last season the McQuaid-Shields team started the season as the No. 2 doubles team but moved into the No. 1 spot after some excellent play midway through the spring season. The pair posted a 16-10 record in duals and a 20-14 overall record to set a program record for most wins in a season by a doubles team. The previous record of 19 was set in 2003 by Erich Chen and Michael Bruggemann. As the top doubles team, the pair was at its best earning a 9-4 record that included an 8-4 win over the nationally ranked tandem of Arnau Bruges and Alexsander Charpantidis of the University of Tulsa.

McQuaid and Shields must win three matches to qualify for the main draw of the tournament, which features defending NCAA champs Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe of Illinois and defending All-American champs Marco Born and Andreas Siljestrom of Middle Tennessee, who are No. 1 and 3, respectively in the preseason rankings.

To follow McQuaid and Shields this week, log on to www.itatennis.com and click on the Polo Ralph Lauren All-American Championships logo for live scoring and results.

The rest of the Broncos team begins the season this weekend at the third annual Bronco Classic from Oct. 6 - Oct. 8 at the Degheri Tennis Center. The matches kick off on Friday, Oct. 6 at 8:00 a.m. PT. Fans can get complete tournament coverage at SantaClaraBroncos.com.