First Wave of 2015 ITA Summer Circuit in the Books
SKILLMAN, NJ (July 1) - The first wave of the ITA Summer Circuit, presented by the USTA, is complete as six universities across the nation crowned their champions over the past weekend.
Event action for each site is recapped below:
Northern California Region - San Jose State
In San Jose the top two men's seeds met in the final, with James Wade of UC Davis prevailing 6-1, 6-2 over second-seeded Birkir Gunnarsson of Auburn University Montgomery. Carnegie Mellon's Tommy Cheng and Whitman's Zach Hewlin teamed up to win the men's doubles title. In women's singles, Vanessa Nommensen won the title in a third-set super tiebreaker over Anna Romeka of Loyola Marymount, while Arianna Chen and Kara Hinton won the doubles championship, also in a tiebreaker
Central Region - U.M. Kansas City
Fourth-seeded Dylan Steffens of Illinois State won the men's singles title in a third-set super tiebreaker over No. 3 seed Jake Jacoby of Iowa, while fellow Hawkeyes and top-seeded Dominic Patrick and Josh Silverstein held court and won the doubles title. Women's singles two-seed Nina Khmelnitckaia upset Wichita State's top-seeded Abby Stevens in a third-set tiebreaker as well, while Nina Khmelnitskaya and Anastasiya Rychagova, both soon to be Kansas Jayhawks, won the doubles draw from the four seed.
Southern California Region - Laguna Niguel
Representatives from two of college tennis' top programs battled for the Laguna Niguel men's singles title when UCLA's Joseph Di Giulio bested TCU's Trevor Johnson in a nail-biting 10-8 third-set super tiebreaker. Johnson earned redemption in doubles, winning the crown with TCU teammate Hudson Blake. In women's singles, fifth-seed Annika Ringblom of Harvard won the crown also via a 10-8 third-set super tiebreaker, and it was Maddie Pothoff and Savannah Slaysman who won the doubles title, defeating Missouri's Cassidy Spearman and UCLA's Maia Magill 8-4 in the final.
Mid-Atlantic Region - Mary Washington
In Fredericksburg, Virginia Tech's Fred Mesmer mesmerized the crowd with a 10-8 third-set super tiebreaker victory in the men's semifinal. He fell to champion Parks Thompson in the finals, 6-3, 6-0. Mesmer won the doubles flight with partner Luke Tercek of Bowdoin. In women's singles, Florida senior Spencer Liang won six matches to win the singles title, and would make the doubles final with partner Sydney Rider of Wisconsin before falling to Pittsburgh teammates Audrey Ann Blakely and Callie Frey, 8-5.
Midwest Region - Minnesota
In Minneapolis, Nebraska's Toby Boyer recovered from a 6-0 first set loss in the singles championship to win 10-8 in the third-set super tiebreaker. Boyer's opponent in the finals, David Horneffer, won the men's doubles title with partner Robert Krill. In women's singles, Northwestern's Madeline Lipp emerged as the winner after fighting through a couple three-setters in the middle rounds. Kathryn Hall and Chiara Lommer won the women's doubles title.
Southeast Region - Florida State
Top-seeded men's singles player Elliott Orkin of Florida advanced to the finals with five consecutive straight-set victories but was trumped by Georgia Tech's fourth-seeded Cole Fiegel in the final, 7-6(4), 7-5. Orkin would win the doubles title with Gator teammate Joshua Wardell. In women's singles, Mississippi State's Madison Harrison knocked off four of the top five seeds en route to the title. UCF's Sofia Baptista and Cortney Cesarini won four matches to win the doubles tournament.
Upcoming Tournament Schedule:
June 29-July 4: Pittsburgh
July 3-6: Purdue
July 4-6: Abilene Christian
For a full schedule and complete draw information, visit our 2015 ITA Summer Circuit page.
About the ITA Summer Circuit
Since its inception in 1993, nearly 30,000 men and women have competed in the ITA Summer Circuit, presented by the USTA. Providing college and junior athletes (along with alumni) the opportunity to compete in organized events year round, the Circuit remains open to anyone as long as he/she is a current ITA member. There are nine regional circuits that span across the United States, which include 36 different tournaments.