Top Spots: The Virginia men and the Northwestern women hold on to the top spot in this week’s Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings. Northwestern (22-1) has been ranked No.1 in every ranking period this season and in 24 of the past 25 rankings while Virginia (29-0), the only undefeated team in both the men’s and women’s top 25, claims the top spot for the sixth straight week and for the 24th time in the past 30 rankings. The top-ranked Cavaliers completed their third consecutive undefeated ACC regular season followed with their third straight ACC title and its fifth in six years, becoming the first team in the 24 years of dual match play to sweep three straight matches without losing a point. UVA has gone through the league undefeated in four of the past five years and just completed their second consecutive undefeated regular season. Northwestern celebrated its 2009 Senior Day in style, beating Penn State 7-0 to clinch its 11th consecutive Big Ten Championship. The Wildcats ran through the Big Ten schedule with a perfect 10-0 record for the fifth straight year, upping their winning streak against Big Ten opponents to 74 matches. Northwestern's 10-0 Big Ten season featured eight 7-0 sweeps and two 6-1 victories (against second-place Michigan and third-place Illinois). Later this week, NU travels to Wisconsin for the 2009 Big Ten Women's Tennis Championship as it tries to take home its 11th straight tournament title.
Rounding Out the Top 10: On the women's side, Northwestern is followed by (in order): Duke, Georgia, Notre Dame, Baylor, Miami (FL), USC, California, Georgia Tech and Tennessee. For the men, following Virginia is: Mississippi, Ohio State, Georgia, UCLA, Tennessee, Baylor, Stanford, USC and Florida.
Conference Count: Men's Top 25: SEC – 7; ACC – 5; Big 12 and Pac-10 – 4; Big Ten – 2; Big East, WAC and WCC - 1. Five different conferences placed at least one team in the top 10, with the SEC claiming four of the top 10 spots and the Pac-10 with three. Women’s Top 25: SEC – 9; ACC – 6; Pac-10 – 4; Big Ten – 2; Big 12, Big East, Conference USA and WAC – 1. Six different conferences placed at least one team in the top 10, with the ACC and Pac-10 each claiming three of the top 10 spots.
Twice as Nice: Eleven schools have both their men’s and women’s programs ranked inside this week’s top 25.
|
TEAM |
MEN |
WOMEN |
|
Alabama |
13 |
24 |
|
Baylor |
7 |
5 |
|
Florida |
10 |
15 |
|
Florida State |
16 |
17 |
|
Georgia |
4 |
3 |
|
Kentucky |
12 |
25 |
|
Miami (FL) |
25 |
6 |
|
Stanford |
8 |
13 |
|
Tennessee |
6 |
10 |
|
UCLA |
5 |
11 |
|
USC |
9 |
7 |
Jumpers and Newcomers: For the fifth straight week only one new team joined the women’s top 25 with Alabama rising two spots to No. 24. The Tide’s return to top 25 follows their 4-3 victory over Auburn to end a six-match skid after starting the spring 11-0. Despite suffering a loss to then No. 2 Georgia in their regular-season finale, the Lady Volunteers made the largest jump after holding steady at No. 13 for three straight weeks. The No. 10 ranking matches UT’s highest since Jan. 12, 2004. There was also little movement on the men’s side as Virginia Tech climbed three notches to No. 24, reclaiming its spot among the men’s top 25. Fifth-ranked UCLA made the biggest leap, boosting itself four places with a 5-2 victory over rival USC to capture their sixth straight conference championship.
Singling Out No. 1: After beginning the spring ranked No. 1, Northwestern’s Maria Mosolova is back on top in the women’s singles rankings for the second consecutive week while Arnau Brugues of Tulsa also makes second-straight week appearance at the top spot in men’s singles and for a nation-leading fourth time this season. Renata Kucerkova and Anastasia Petukhova of Fresno State continue to lead the way in women’s doubles while the Ole Miss duo of Jonas Berg and Bram ten Berge also claimed the top spot in men’s doubles for the third time this spring.
Conference Championship Month: All remaining conference tournaments throughout the country will conclude this weekend. Champions earn automatic bids into next month’s NCAA Championships. Be sure to check out the ITA’s Conference Championship Central pagefor links to each conference’s championship site.
Mark your calendars: The 2009 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Division I Tennis Championships will take place at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Texas, May 14-25. The round of 16 through the finals of the team tournaments is May 14-19 and the singles and doubles championships take place May 20-25. First and second round NCAA matches will take place at campus sites (to be determined) May 8-9. Tickets are now on sale for this year’s championships and can be purchased at 888/99-AGGIE or www.AggieAthletics.com. This year’s NCAA selection show will take place April 28 on ESPNews.
Next Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings: The next weekly team rankings will be released on Tuesday, April 28, while the next singles and doubles rankings will be released on Tuesday, April 28. These rankings reflect results through Sunday, April 19. It is important and factually accurate to include “Campbell” in the title so please remember when referring to the ITA Rankings to cite as Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings.
Division I Men’s Top 25
Division I Women’s Top 25
Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings:
Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings:
Rank, school
W-L
Avg.
LW (4/14)
Rank, school W-L Avg.
LW (4/14)
1. Virginia
29-0
76.86
1
1. Northwestern
21-1
84.38
1
2. Mississippi
21-2
75.25
3
2. Duke
23-3
75.55
3
3. Ohio State
28-1
74.21
2
3. Georgia
20-2
74.93
2
4. Georgia
21-2
72.86
4
4. Notre Dame
24-4
69.25
4
5. UCLA
17-4
68.05
9
5. Baylor
20-4
69.05
5
6. Tennessee
19-5
68.03
6
6. Miami (FL)
23-4
68.26
6
7. Baylor
21-5
64.89
5
7. USC
20-2
63.28
9
8. Stanford
19-5
63.28
8
8. California
17-4
63.03
8
9. USC
19-5
62.36
7
9. Georgia Tech
16-7
61.79
7
10. Florida
16-7
58.97
10
10. Tennessee
15-5
52.86
13
11. Texas A&M
14-7
50.5
13
11. UCLA
17-6
52.14
10
12. Kentucky
16-9
49.66
12
12. Clemson
17-7
51
11
13. Alabama
19-6
49.45
15
13. Stanford
17-4
50.48
12
14. Illinois
19-7
49.19
11
14. Arkansas
13-6
47.99
14
15. Texas
17-5
48.38
14
15. Florida
13-8
43.5
16
16. Florida State
19-8
46.5
16
16. Fresno State
19-5
43.23
15
17. Pepperdine
18-9
41.06
17
17. Florida State
16-7
41.96
17
18. Wake Forest
20-9
37.92
20
18. Michigan
15-5
41.66
18
19. Auburn
12-9
35.81
18
19. Vanderbilt
10-7
41.39
19
20. Boise State
21-7
35
19
20. North Carolina
18-10
39.11
21
21. Oklahoma State
13-6
34.35
24
21. SMU
28-2
34.53
23
22. Arizona
17-5
32.63
22
22. South Carolina
13-9
34.07
20
23. Louisville
20-7
31.82
23
23. Louisiana State
13-9
33.6
22
24. Virginia Tech
14-7
31.51
27
24. Alabama
14-7
30.66
26
25. Miami (FL)
14-8
31.19
25
25. Kentucky
12-9
30.19
24
