Nov. 5, 2014
FLUSHING, NY – With preseason tennis coming to a close, the Commodores have four representatives at the fall’s most prestigious event, the 2014 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships. Two members from both the men’s and women’s team will be competing in the three-day tournament in Flushing, NY. Match play begins Thursday morning at 9 a.m. ET.
“Everyone from both teams is thrilled to be here at this tournament and competing in this venue,” said Vanderbilt women’s head coach Geoff Macdonald. “It’s awesome to have two out of 32 singles representatives from Vanderbilt in the women’s tournament, and it’s awesome to be here with Gonzales (Austin) and Rhys (Johnson).”
This event is hosted by Columbia University and for the fifth year takes place at the home of the US Open, the USTA Billie Jean King National Indoor Tennis Center. The field consists of a 32-player singles draw and a 20-team doubles draw for both men and women. Twenty-six various colleges are represented in Flushing this week for the men and twenty for the women’s competition.
For No. 9 Gonzales Austin this will be his second trip to the indoor tournament. The senior out of Miami, Fla. comes off an appearance in last year’s quarterfinals. Austin begins singles play first thing Thursday morning as an at-large selection facing the No. 4 seeded Julian Lenz out of Baylor at 9 a.m. ET. “AJ” Austin has faced 11 of the 32 singles contenders in attendance over his tenure at Vandy; defeating seven players in all and some multiple times.
Joining Austin is his doubles partner Rhys Johnson. Currently ranked No. 22 by the ITA, the duo head to nationals after winning the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional doubles title back in mid-October. The tandem is the tournament’s No. 3 seed, only behind the second seeded pairing of Roberto Cid and Alexandru Gonzun out of South Florida, and (1) Southern Cal’s Roberto Quiroz and Yannick Hanfmann.
Johnson and Austin enjoy a bye in the first round of completion and face the winner of No. 16 Metka/Steinbach (Ohio State) and Saraiva/Skajaa (San Francisco). The Commodores defeated Metka/Steinbach in dramatic fashion at the ITA All-American championships; 7-6, 6-1. Adding to their fall repertoire, the tandem has defeated one other team in attendance at this year’s tournament, the No. 2 team of Kopinski/Guignon out of Illinois.
Representing the women’s tennis team is the Ohio Valley Regional singles champion, No. 50 Sydney Campbell, and No. 63 Courtney Colton. In her two years at Vandy Campbell is 3-9 against her fellow competitors with wins over No. 63 Colton, No. 38 Giuliana Olmos, and No. 85 Kanika Vaida. The sophomore boasts a nine match win streak, with her sole loses of the season coming from the No. 32, 17, and 12 ranked players. Campbell begins tournament play against the No. 7 seed and No. 10 ranked Danielle Collins Thursday at 2 p.m.
Courtney Colton begins her tournament journey as an at-large selection Thursday morning at 11:30 a.m. The junior squares off against the No. 1 seed, and No. 1 ranked Jamie Loeb out of North Carolina. Loeb is back to defend her title after winning the 2013 National Indoor Championships. Colton has compiled an impressive 13-2 fall record with wins over the No. 29, 57, and 82 ranked players.
“I really have to give Courtney (Colton) and Sydney (Campbell) a lot of credit,” said Macdonald. “They have both been training and preparing very hard together the past couple of weeks for this tournament. The best college tennis players in the country are here at this tournament so we’re excited to gain some more experience. Several pros players from other countries will be here watching the tournament so this is just an amazing opportunity for all the players.”
