**For complete draws and updated results following each day, please click the following link to the tournament website.**
ST. PETER, Minn. – Gustavus Adolphus College is set to host the 2015 USTA/ITA Midwest Regional Championships this weekend, with the Swanson Indoor Tennis Center and Brown Outdoor Tennis Complex serving as the tournament’s headquarters. The tournament will run from Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27 and will feature 26 of the top teams in the region at eight sites throughtout St. Peter and Mankato.
More than 100 of the top players in the Midwest will take part in the tournament, which will begin with singles matches Friday morning at 9 a.m. Megan Humphreys of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater comes in as the No. 1 overall seed in the singles draw. Behind Humphreys sits second-seeded Bridget Bellissimo of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, third-seeded Michaela Schulz of host Gustavus Adolphus, and fourth-seeded Gabi Kitchell of UW-Whitewater.
Doubles competition will begin Friday immediately after the completion of the second round of singles play. The duo of Bellissimo/Kimmy Mrozek of UW-La Crosse will enter the tournament as the top-seeded doubles team. They will be challenged by second-seeded Bridget Noack/Shelby Henderson of the University of St. Thomas, third-seeded Humphreys/Bridgid McGuire, and fourth-seeded Schulz/Ally Baker of Gustavus.
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 also taking place at the adjacent Brown Outdoor Tennis Complex and the Gibbs Courts, which are also located on the Gustavus campus.
The singles and doubles champions from the USTA/ITA Regional Championships will advance to the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships, held October 15-18 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. Over 8,000 student-athletes from NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, Junior and Community Colleges compete at one of the 84 USTA/ITA Regional Championships held across the country.
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. To learn more about the ITA, click here.