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Greg Andrews
Notre Dame
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Jared Hiltzik
Illinois
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Peter Kobelt
Ohio State
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Emina Bektas
Michigan
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Jenny Jullien
St. Mary's
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Ronit Yurovsky
Michigan
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By Sally Milano, USTA.com | Edited by USTA Midwest
The field is set for the prestigious 2013 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships (NIIC), and several of the country's top tennis players will compete in the event that serves as the culmination of the fall college tennis season. The 32-player field features six players from Midwest universities and colleges.
Among those representing the Midwest in the men's field is Peter Kobelt of Ohio State, as well as Notre Dame's Greg Andrews and Illinois' Jared Hiltzik. Highlighting the women's field is Michigan's Emina Bektas and Ronit Yurovsky. The Wolverine duo will also be joined by St. Mary's Jenny Jullien.
Defending women’s singles champion Robin Anderson of UCLA and top-ranked Mikelis Libietis of Tennessee are among the players set to compete in the NIIC, which kicks off Thursday, Nov. 7, and concludes Sunday, Nov. 10, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y., home of the US Open.
Anderson, a junior ranked No. 2 in the ITA’s preseason singles rankings, will defend her title in a familiar setting. A Matawan, N.J., native, she reached the quarterfinals of the US Open Junior Championships in 2010 and once trained at the USTA Training Center – East, located on the grounds of the National Tennis Center.
North Carolina freshman Jamie Loeb, of Ossining, N.Y., a product of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy at Randall's Island, beat Anderson in this year’s Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championship and will lead a field of women’s challengers that also includes No. 1-ranked Sabrina Santamaria of USC, No. 3 Lauren Herring of Georgia, 2013 NCAA semifinalist Breaunna Addison of Texas and Beatrice Capra of Duke, who reached the third round of the 2010 US Open, before falling to Maria Sharapova.
In addition to Libietis, the men’s field includes 6-foot-7 and No. 3-ranked Peter Kobelt of Ohio State; No. 6 Marcos Giron of UCLA, whose No. 554 ATP World Tour ranking leads the field; No. 7 Nik Scholtz of Mississippi; and No. 8 Ray Sarmiento of USC.
Besides Anderson and Loeb, a number of NIIC participants are also from the New York tri-state area, including Virginia’s Julia Elbaba of Oyster Bay, N.Y., a sophomore ranked No. 9 in the women’s college singles rankings, her teammate, freshman Rachel Pierson of Princeton, N.J., and Columbia freshman Tina Jiang of Bridgewater, N.J.
The USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships features a 32-player singles field and a 20-team doubles field for both men and women. The draws are comprised of the men’s and women’s champions from each of the 12 Division I USTA/ITA Regional Championships, the men’s and women’s USTA/ITA National Small College Super Bowl champion, the eight quarterfinalists from the ITA Men’s All-American Championships, the four semifinalists from the Riviera/ITA Women’s All-American Championships as well as the consolation winners from both events, and at-large and wild-card selections made by the ITA and USTA. Additionally, Columbia University, which is serving as the host school for the third consecutive year, receives a wild-card entry into each draw. In total, 123 players from 46 schools will compete in New York in singles or doubles.
The USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships was inaugurated in 1978 for the men and 1984 for the women. Past champions and finalists include John Isner (Georgia), Bob and Mike Bryan (Stanford), James Blake (Harvard), Lisa Raymond (Florida), Steve Johnson (Southern California), Rhyne Williams (Tennessee), Irina Falconi (Georgia Tech), Maria Sanchez (Southern California) and Jarmere Jenkins (Virginia). Click here for a complete list of winners.
To follow all the action from the NIIC and to participate in a daily live chat, click here.
Players competing in singles at the 2013 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships include:
Men:
Guillermo Alcorta, Oklahoma (Redshirt Sr., Spain)
Axel Alvarez, Oklahoma (Soph., Spain)
Greg Andrews, Notre Dame (Sr., Richland, Mich.)
Gonzales Austin, Vanderbilt (Jr., Miami)
Brett Clark, North Carolina (Soph., Naples, Fla.)
Henry Craig, Denver (Soph., Murrieta, Calif.)
Diego Galeano, Baylor (Jr., Paraguay)
Marcos Giron, UCLA (Jr., Thousand Oaks, Calif.)
George Goldhoff, Texas (Fr., Irvine, Calif.)
Yannick Hanfmann, USC (Jr., Germany)
Andrew Harris, Oklahoma (Fr., Australia)
Jared Hiltzik, Illinois (Soph., Wilmette, Ill.)
Samir Iftikhar, New Mexico (Jr., United Kingdom)
Campbell Johnson, California (Sr., Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.)
Peter Kobelt, Ohio State (RS Jr., New Albany, Ohio)
Julian Lenz, Baylor (Soph., Germany)
Mikelis Libietis, Tennessee (Jr., Latvia)
Winston Lin, Columbia (Jr., Williamsville, N.Y.)
Carlos Lopez Villa, Old Dominion (Jr., Spain)
Nathan Pasha, Georgia (Jr., Atlanta)
Patrick Pradella, Baylor (Sr., Germany)
Hunter Reese, Tennessee (Redshirt Jr., Kennesaw, Ga.)
Alex Sarkissian, Pepperdine (Redshirt Sr., Glendale, Calif.)
Ray Sarmiento, USC (Sr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.)
Max Schnur, Columbia (Jr., Richmond, Va.)
Nik Scholtz, Mississippi (Jr., South Africa)
Austin Smith, Georgia (Soph., Cumming, Ga.)
Malte Stropp, Mississippi State (Sr., Germany)
Clay Thompson, UCLA (Sr., Venice Beach, Calif.)
Joran Vliegen, East Carolina (Sr., Belgium)
Dane Webb, Oklahoma (Jr., Richardson, Texas)
Deni Zmak, Embry-Riddle (Soph., Croatia)
Women:
Breaunna Addison, Texas (Soph., Boca Raton, Fla.)
Robin Anderson, UCLA (Jr., Matawan, N.J.)
Lucia Batta, UNLV (Sr., Hungary)
Emina Bektas, Michigan (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind.)
Jennifer Brady, UCLA (Fr., Boca Raton, Fla.)
Pleun Burgmans, Auburn (Soph., Netherlands)
Beatrice Capra, Duke (Soph., Ellicott City, Md.)
Hayley Carter, North Carolina (Fr., Hilton Head Island, S.C.)
Alexandra Cercone, Florida (Sr., Seminole, Fla.)
Danielle Collins, Virginia (Soph., St. Petersburg, Fla.)
Valentine Confalonieri, Lynn (Fr., Italy)
Julia Elbaba, Virginia (Soph., Oyster Bay, N.Y.)
Silvia Garcia, Georgia (Soph., Spain)
Kiah Generette, Baylor (Soph., Signal Hill, Calif.)
Lorraine Guillermo, Pepperdine (Jr., Walnut, Calif.)
Lauren Herring, Georgia (Jr., Greenville, N.C.)
Jenny Jullien, St. Mary’s (Sr., France)
Maho Kowase, Georgia (Sr., Japan)
Jamie Loeb, North Carolina (Fr., Ossining, N.Y.)
Kanyapat Narattana, Oklahoma State (Sr., Thailand)
Sofie Oyen, Florida (Sr., Belgium)
Rachel Pierson, Virginia (Fr., Princeton, N.J.)
Nadia Ravita, Kentucky (Soph., Indonesia)
Bianca Sanon, Columbia (Sr., Plantation, Fla.)
Sabrina Santamaria, USC (Jr., Los Angeles)
Georgina Sellyn, Vanderbilt (Soph., Scotland)
Cristina Stancu, Texas A&M (Sr., Romania)
Zsofi Susanyi, California (Jr., Hungary)
Abigail Tere-Apisah, Georgia State (Sr., Papua New Guinea)
Kanika Vaidya, Columbia (Soph., Singapore)
Chanelle Van Nguyen, UCLA (Jr., Miami)
Ronit Yurovsky, Michigan (Soph., New Kensington, Pa.)
*Participants are subject to change.