ITA Small College Champs Crowned
Embry-Riddle’s Hizak repeats in men’s singles
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Embry-Riddle’s (Fla.) Mislav
Hizak and Fresno Pacific’s (Calif.) Jelena
Pandzic rolled to the singles titles and
Auburn-Montgomery (Ala.) and Lynn (Fla.) duos
captured the doubles titles Sunday at the 2006
Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) “Super
Bowl” of Small College Tennis at the Florida
Gulf Coast University Tennis Complex.
A year after sweeping all four titles, NAIA
players claimed three of the four championships
today. NAIA Embry-Riddle’s Hizak is the first
player to repeat as ITA men’s singles champ,
beating NCAA Division III Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’
(Calif.) Mike Starr 6-1, 6-3 in today’s final.
NAIA Fresno Pacific’s Pandzic beat Cowley’s
(Kan.) Comm. College’s Kasia Siwosz 6-0, 6-0 in
the women’s final. NAIA Auburn-Montgomery’s
Kamila Dadakhodjeava and Tereza Veverkova edged
Hillsborough’s (Fla.) Comm. College’s Hiroko
Nishikawa and Mizuho Nishimura 7-5, 3-6, 10-4
(match tie-breaker) in the women’s doubles
final. And NCAA Division II Lynn's Julien
Carsuzaa and Dennis Riegraf beat Tyler (Texas)
Junior College’s Nahom Serekeberhan and Jorge
Vasquez 4-6, 6-2, 10-1 (match tie-breaker) to
win the men’s doubles championship.
The overall ITA "Super Bowl" of Small College
Tennis champions earn wild cards into the Nov.
2-5 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor
Championships, hosted by The Ohio State
University in Columbus. This tournament is the
second of three national championships for
Division I tennis and offers the small college
participants the opportunity to become champions
for all divisions of collegiate tennis.
This event is presented by the United States
Tennis Association (USTA) and administered by
the ITA. It dates back to 1986 and determines
champions for NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA
and Junior/Community College men’s and women’s
singles and doubles during the first
two-and-a-half days of play. Those champions
then competed to become the overall national
small college champs (for all divisions) this
weekend in the ITA “Super Bowl” of Small College
Tennis.
Embry-Riddle’s Hizak did not lose a set in five
victories this week. On Saturday he also became
the first men’s player to repeat as an NAIA
singles champ. He followed up last year’s “Super
Bowl” title by reaching the quarterfinals of the
2005 ITA National Indoor Championships.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps’ Starr is the first
Division III player to reach the “Super Bowl”
men’s final since 1994.
AUM’s Dadakhodjeava also repeated as a doubles
champ today - she won the title last year with a
different partner. Lynn and Fresno Pacific
claimed their first “Super Bowl” crowns. Lynn’s
Carsuzaa and Riegraf survived three straight
match tie-breakers this week and fought off
match point in yesterday’s semifinals. Pandzic
wins a title for Fresno Pacific in the second
year of the program's existence. She reached the
NCAA singles final as a freshman at Division I
Fresno State in 2004, her only year playing at
that level. Last year she finished No. 1 in the
Fila national singles rankings for NAIA. She won
50 of 66 points played in today’s final and
three of her five victories this week came by
6-0, 6-0 scores.
Small College tennis enjoys a rich tradition.
Notable small college tennis players include the
likes of Billie Jean King (Cal State Los
Angeles), Brad Gilbert (Foothill Comm. College),
Mikael Pernfors (Seminole Comm. College), Paul
Haarhuis (Armstrong Atlantic State) and doubles
greats Ken Flach and Robert Seguso
(SIU-Edwardsville). Current ATP top 100 player
Wesley Moodie played in the ITA National Small
College Championships while at NAIA
Auburn-Montgomery. Astronaut Sally Ride
(Swarthmore) and actress Lisa Kudrow (Vassar)
both played at the NCAA Division III level.
