St. Peter, Minn. – Gustavus Adolphus College is set to host the 2014 USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Championship this weekend at the Swanson Indoor Tennis Center and the Brown Outdoor Courts. The Men’s Division III Midwest Regional Championships will take place Friday, September 26 through Sunday, September 28.
The Small College (NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College) singles and doubles champions from the USTA/ITA Regional Championships will advance to the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships, held October 9-12 at the Palmetto Tennis Center in Sumter, South Carolina. The USTA/ITA National Small College Championships are comprised of the eight regional champions (and/or at-large selections) from NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community Colleges.
The USTA/ITA National Small College Championship is the only national championship event for singles and doubles at the NCAA Division II and NAIA levels. It is also the only tournament that combines all levels of Junior/Community College (NJCAA Divisions I and III and the California division). The singles and doubles champions at each divisional level will then compete to become the overall “Super Bowl” champions. The “Super Bowl” champions earn wild cards into the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships with the opportunity to win the culminating event held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
More than 100 of the top singles and doubles players in the Midwest will take part in the tournament beginning with singles matches on Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. The Swanson Indoor Tennis Center, located on the west edge of the Gustavus campus, will serve as headquarters for the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Championships, with matches taking place at Swanson and the adjacent Brown Outdoor Courts, as well as the Gibbs Tennis Courts, which are situated just north of the Gustavus main entrance.
Jake Humphreys of UW-Whitewater enters the weekend as the No. 1 overall seed in the singles draw of the USTA/ITA Midwest Regional. Challenging Humphreys and rounding out the top four seeds is Jack Michael of Carroll College as the No. 2, Riley Galbraith of Coe College as the No. 3, and Alex Boomgarden of Carthage as the No. 4. Humphreys is the reigning USTA/ITA Midwest Regional singles champion after he defeated Michael 5-7, 6-0, 6-2 in the title match last year.
In the doubles draw, UW-Whitewater’s Jake Humphreys and Ben Shklyar are the top-seeded duo. Gustavus’s Motasem Al-Houni and Andres Saenz are the No. 2 seed, Coe’s Riley Galbraith and Brady Anderson at the No. 3 seed, and Carleton’s Andrew Hwang and Erik Johnson are the No. 4 seed. In last season’s doubles championships, Ben Shklyar and Byron Balkin of UW-Whitewater defeated Mya Smith-Dennis and Al-Houni of Gutavus 6-3, 6-3 to take the title.
The ITA National Small College Championships began in 1986 and annually crowns men’s and women’s singles and doubles national champions in each of the ITA’s four small college divisions (NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College). The USTA/ITA National Small College Championship is the only national championship event for singles and doubles at the NCAA Division II and NAIA levels. It is also the only tournament that combines all levels of Junior/Community College (NJCAA Divisions I and III and the California division). The singles and doubles champions at each divisional level will then compete to become the overall “Super Bowl” champions. The “Super Bowl” champions earn wild cards into the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships with the opportunity to win the culminating event held at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
As the governing body of collegiate tennis, the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which was founded in 1956 and is based in Skillman, N.J., administers numerous regional and national championships, the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit, presented by the USTA, and the ITA Rankings for men’s and women’s tennis at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship. The official ITA website is http://www.itatennis.com/