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Valdosta State men's tennis team won its second Division II championship.
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Rhyne Williams
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Tennys Sandgren
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Mallory Burdette
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A complete recap of southern teams and players in the Men's and Women's NCAA DI, DII, and DIII National Tournaments.
By Michael Rardon and Kerri Gibson, USTA Southern
2011 USTA Collegiate Team
The USTA recently announced the 2011 USTA Collegiate Team. The team features 19 of the nation's top men's and women's collegiate tennis players. The team is an elite train program designed to provide the top American college players with valueable exposure to the USTA Pro Circuit. The USTA and the ITA administer the event for the players. In addition to competing on the USTA Pro Circuit, the team will also compete in the USTA Player Development program which is hosting two Pro Tour Transition camps.
This year 3 players selected to the team represented USTA Southern: Rhyne Williams (Tennessee), Tennys Sandgren (Tennessee), and Eric Quigley (Kentucky). The players were selected for the team based on their performances the NCAA Championships, the ITA All-Americans and the National Indoor Championships. Results from any USTA Pro Circuit, ATP or WTA events were also considered. All nineteen of the players selected received 2011 ITA All-American honors. Former members of the USTA Collegiate Team include James Blake, Bob and Mike Bryan, and John Isner.
All-Americans
Division I
The ITA recently announced the 2011 NCAA All-Americans. In order to qualify as a singles All-American a player must be a top 16 seed in NCAA Singles Championships, or reach round of 16 in NCAA Singles Championships, or finish in the Top 20 of the final ITA Rankings. For doubles a player must be a top eight seed in NCAA Doubles Championships, or reach quarterfinals of NCAA Doubles Championship, or finish in Top 10 of final ITA Rankings.
Of the selective group of All-American players the Southern section had eight players represented. They are the following:
Kate Fuller- Georgia (Doubles)
Chelsey Gullickson- Georgia (Singles/Doubles)
Eric Quigley- Kentucky (Singles)
Mallory Burdette- Standford (Doubles)
Rhyne Williams- Tennesee (Singles)
Tennys Sandgren- Tennesee (Singles)
Keri Wong- Clemson (Doubles)
Kevin King- Geogia Tech (Doubles)
Small Colleges
The ITA announced the All-American Teams for Small Conferences. These include DII, DIII, NAIA, and NJCAA. Numerous USTA Southern players are represented in this selective group of players in all divisions.
Division I
Men's
The Georgia Tech Men's Tennis Coach, Kenny Thorne, was announced as the 2011 Wilson/ITA Division I National Coach of the Year. Thorne led his team to a 21-6 regular season record and to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. This was the furthest Georgia Tech has advanced in the NCAA tournament since 1994.
Tennessee native, Rhyne Wiliiams represented the Tennessee Volunteers in the individual National Championship match. In a rematch or the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships final in November, Williams faced the top seeded Steve Johnson of Southern California. Williams won their previous match making him one of only three players to beat Johnson all season. After winning the first set 6-4, Williams seemed to be on his way to a National Title. However, Johnson proved why he was the top seed in the tournament and rebounded to win the final two sets 6-2, 6-1 and ending his season on a 35 match win steak.
On his impressive run to the finals, Rhyne Williams defeated fellow Tennessean and Tennessee teammate Tennys Sandgren to advance to the final of the NCAA Division I Singles Championship. Williams won in the semifinal over his roommate 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 Sunday at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium. Williams is from Knoxville, Tenn. and Sandgren is from Gallatin, Tenn.
In the team tournament, Georgia once again made an impressive run to the the Final Four for the fifth time in six years. During their tournament run the sixth seeded Georgia defeated rival and third seeded Tennessee in the quarterfinals in an incredible come back win.
Despite their tournament success, Georgia was unable to take a further step in their National Title campaign when they fell short against the two-time defending National Champions, USC, in their semifinal match. After winning the doubles point, the first three singles matches finished were all in USC's favor and gave the Trojan's a 4-0 victory.
USC went on the win their third consecutive National Championship
Women's
In the quarterfinals of the 2011 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship, the #8 seed University of Georgia fell to #1 seed Stanford with a final of 4-0. #4 seed North Carolina lost a close match to #5 Baylor with a final of 4-3. The #6 seed UCLA was victorious over #3 Duke with a score of 4-2. #15 seed Clemson lost to #2 Florida with a final of 4-1. No teams from the Southern Section made it into to Semifinal. All matches were held at the Taube Tennis Center on the campus of Stanford University.
The semifinal was held on Monday, May 23. #1 seed Stanford took the victory over #5 Baylor with a 4-1 final to advance to the Championship match. The match between #6 UCLA and #2 Florida ended with Florida advancing to the Championship with a final of 4-0. The Championship between #1 Stanford and #2 Florida was taken by Florida 4-3 over Stanford. The Gators ended Stanford's 184-match home winning streak, spanning 12 years that includes two victories against Florida in the NCAA tournament. This is Florida’s 5th Women’s Tennis National Championship.
In the individual NCAA tournament, the Stanford duo of Mallory Burdette and Hilary Barte won the doubles National Championship. The fourth seeded Stanford team did not drop a set en route to the finals. In Championship match they faced Bek and Wong from Clemson. Burdette and Barte fought through a tough first set, winning 7-6. After winning the first set they carried their momentum and cruised to a 6-0 final set to win the National Championship. The Georgia native, Mallory Burdette helped to keep the National Doubles title not only at Stanford, but within her own family as well. The previous season, her teammate and sister, Lindsay Burdette won the National Championship in doubles for Stanford.
Division II
Men's
The NCAA Champion has been crowned at the Division II level. Valdosta State, from Valdosta, Ga,. defeated Barry University (FL) in the finals of the Altamonte Springs, Fla. tournament. To reach the finals, VSU got by another Georgia school, Columbus State, in the semis. Congratulations to the Blazers on their second NCAA Championship!
Division III
Men's
In the individual tournament, Emory had an unprecedented three singles players competing. Emory's top three singles players had not dropped a match the entire season, unitl the National Championship match when they fell to Amherst. In the individual tournament, they rebounded and proved their singles dominance. Their 1 and 2 singles players, Dillon Pottish and Chris Goodwin both made impressive runs through the tournament to set up an all Emory final. This is only the fifth time in DIII history that there has been a final with both players from the same school. In the National Championship match, Goodwin, the 2 singles player defeated the top ranked Pottish 6-2, 7-6 (3).
In the team tournament, Emory also made an impressive run. Upon reaching Elite 8 in Claremont, CA, Emory defeated Middlebury, the defending National Champions 5-2 to earn a spot in the Final Four. Their semifinal match Emory faced Washington University (St. Louis) in a rematch of their conference final. The Eagles put up an impressive 5-0 victory keeping their undefeated DIII record in tact as they moved into the finals.
In the finals, Emory faced Amherst who also had a dominating victory in their semifinal match against Williams, winning 5-1. Amhurst lead 2-1 going into singles play, but with a dominant singles lineup Emory still had confidence they could comeback and win. However, Amherst proved too strong and taking three quick singles matches and ending Emory's perfect record.
Women's
The Division III NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship finished on Thursday, May 26 in Claremont, Calif. Emory University (GA) put on a good show, taking third place against Chicago with a 5-3 victory. They were beaten by Amherst in the Semifinal, 5-3. The 2011 Division III Champion is Williams College (MA). The Ephs were victorious over Amherst (MA) with a final of 5-4. Williams ends the season with a record of 22-3.The title is Williams’ 4th straight, tying them with Emory for most consecutive title wins.
Nancy Worley, of New Orleans, La., was instrumental in winning the final match. For more on the final,
click here.
NAIA
In the women's NAIA tournament, the third seeded Auburn Montgomery (AL) defeated the defending national champion Fresno Pacific in the final 5-3. After going into a 1-3 deficit, Montgomery stormed back to win the next four matches to claim a 5-3 victory. Despite having to default 6 singles and 3 doubles in every match throughout the tournament, because they did not have enough team member to fill a complete roster, they were able to overcome the 0-2 deficit in every match to win the national championship.
In Previous Action
The National Semifinals of the Men’s Division I tennis tournament are set. Of the five teams from the USTA Southern Section that appeared in the Sweet Sixteen, Georgia stands alone in the semifinals. This is Georgia’s fifth trip to the Final Four in the past six years.
The road to this point in the tournament has not been easy for the Bulldogs. In the round of 16 they beat Duke 4-1.This win was followed by a tough match against SEC rival Tennessee in the quarterfinals after the Volunteers defeated California. In the quarterfinal match up, Georgia lost the doubles point, but pulled out a hard fought win after winning 4 of the 6 singles matches.
Georgia now faces defending National Champion, USC, Monday May 23 at 3 pm. to earn a spot in the National Championship game.
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The round of 16 is set for the Division I Men’s Tennis Championship and 5 of the 16 teams are from USTA Southern.
Action will begin on Thursday, May 19 at the Taube Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif. Southern teams will face tough competition while vying for a spot in the quarterfinals.
In an all Southern matchup, Georgia will take on Duke. Tennessee will face California In the 12pm EDT matches. The 3pm EST matches see Kentucky taking on Florida and Georgia Tech matched up with Southern Cal. Winners will advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday, May 21, also in Stanford.
Division III
The Division III quarterfinal matches have been set and Emory, of Atlanta, is the lone Southern team remaining. They defeated the only other Southern team, NC Wesleyan, in the third round. Emory faces Middlebury in the quarters on May, 24 with all remaining matches being held in Claremont, CA.