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Vanderbilt’s Fish in ITA National Summer Championship Again 8/16/2004 Rising Commodore sophomore was 2003 Summer Player of the Year BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Vanderbilt’s Amanda Fish and Northwestern’s Alexis Prousis advanced to Tuesday’s women’s singles final, while Ohio State’s Chris Klingemann will face Minnesota’s Avery Ticer in the men’s final at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Summer Championships at the Indiana University Varsity Tennis Center. Fish and Ticer were last year’s ITA Summer Circuit Players of the Year. Fish fell to Illinois’ Jennifer McGaffigan in the 2003 singles final and Ticer reached last year’s quarters. Fish won one singles title on the ITA’s East Circuit this summer and Ticer captured two titles in the Midwest Circuit. Fish is looking to become the first Vanderbilt champ at this event since Julie Ditty in 1999. Three three other finalists are looking to become the first champions from their schools. Monday’s men’s semifinals featured three Ohio State players. Klingemann, a sophomore from Bradenton, Fla., upset teammate and No. 1 seed Joey Atas 7-5, 6-7, (10-8) in one semi (a 10-point match tie-breaker is played in place of a third set in this tournament). Minnesota’s third-seeded Ticer, a senior from Abilene, Texas, topped Ohio State’s Devin Mullings 6-3, 6-3 in the other semi. Vanderbilt’s Fish, a No. 5-8 seed from Scituate, Mass., beat high schooler Georgia Rose of Mattawa, Ill., 6-1, 6-2 in the women’s semis. Northwestern’s Prousis, a No. 5-8 seed and sophomore from Lake Forest, Ill., edged Texas’ fouth-seeded Katie Ruckert 7-5, 7-6 to also advance to the final. (After the top four seeds, seeding is done in groups of 5-8 and 9-16). Both singles finals are set for 9 a.m. At stake tomorrow are spots in the first national tournaments for the 2004-05 season. The singles and doubles champions earn wild cards the Icy Hot/ITA Men’s and Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships in October (the finalists earn wild cards into the qualifying tournaments). Hoosiers Dora Vastag and Ryan Recht both lost in this morning’s singles quarterfinals. Vastag, the No. 1 seed, fell to Rose 6-1, 6-1. Recht, a No. 5-8 seed and 2003 finalist, lost to Minnesota’s Ticer 6-4, 6-2. Virginia’s Lauren Bruch and Douglas Wink captured the women’s doubles title tonight, beating Vandy’s Fish and Notre Dame’s Kristina Stasny 8-2 (the men’s doubles finals are taking place later tonight). The ITA National Summer Championships, presented by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), are the pinnacle of the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit, which was played at 20 regional sites throughout the country last month. Over 15,000 men and women have competed in circuit events since it began in 1993. This is the 10th anniversary of the national championships, which were added to the circuit in ’94. The ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit is the brainchild of Indiana head women’s tennis coach Lin Loring and provides college tennis players the opportunity to compete in organized events virtually year round. It is made up of five regional circuits (East, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest and West) and each region consists of four consecutive tournaments played during the month of July, leading up to the ITA National Summer Championships. The ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit had a record 2,005 players participate in last year’s events. This is the fourth straight year IU is serving as tournament host (admission is free). The tournament can be followed on the ITA web site at www.itatennis.com. Monday’s women’s results from Indiana University: Women’s Singles – Quarterfinals: Women’s Doubles – Semifinals: |
