Bison Nearly Reach National Tournament

The Bison tennis teams finished the 2003 season with with a .500 mark as a team, and some impressive individual accomplishments.

Coach Sue Dick's squad wound up with an 8-8 mark, and finished one match away from gaining a berth in the national tournament after losing to eventual national champion Oklahoma Christian, who had already pre-qualified for the national tournament, in their final regional match. OBU has not been this close to a national tournament for several years.

The Bison also had a bright season in the classroom, winning the Athletic Director's GPA Award for being the athletic team with the highest cumulative grade point average.

Freshman Tyson Allard was named the Most Valuable Player. The Most Improved Player award was given to junior Ryan Roberson. Sophomore Ryan Lincks was awarded the Leadership Award.

On the national stage OBU tennis players received many additional awards. Six out of the 12 total players were regional NAIA All-America Scholar Athletes. Two OBU tennis players were named National Academic All-Americans. Dustin Tims was the winner of the Sooner Athletic Conference's A.O. Duer Award.

The men's primary No. 1 singles performer Dustin Tims finished the year 9-5. Number two singles player George Gardev ended up with a 2-11 record.

Tims and Gardev teamed up for a 5-9 mark as the No. 1 doubles team.

Most Valuable Player Tyson Allard finished the year with an 8-6 record. Fellow freshman J.K. McCormick ended the year 6-7.

The Allard-McCormick doubles team had a 7-7 mark.

Rounding out the men's squad Ryan Roberson finished the year 6-9 while his doubles partner Ryan Lincks had an 8-7 record.

The Roberson-Lincks tandem had a 5-9 record.