SAN ANTONIO - Four divisions of collegiate tennis players converge on the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College in Rome, Georgia, on October 17 to take part in the 2019 ITA Cup.
St. Mary's sophomore
Ashley Penshorn (singles and doubles) and junior
Marina Vigil (doubles) received automatic bids into the ITA Cup by winning the Women's ITA South Central Regional doubles draw titles last month. Penshorn did not drop a set during the singles event, defeating six opponents, and teamed with Vigil to win five matches.
"Ashley and Marina, along with their teammates really picked up their levels of play at the Regional," said Director of Tennis Bill Macom. "For all of the girls to win 22 singles and 10 doubles matches in a Regional is a credit to their commitment to the team."
On the men's side, senior
Jeremiah Gonzalez and junior
Brendan Brown lost a close finals match in the Men's ITA Regional, 12-10 in the third set tiebreaker, but were one of four Regional doubles finalists to be selected for the ITA Cup.
"Jeremiah and Brendan are playing outstanding tennis and I am looking forward to seeing how far they can advance in Rome," continued Macom.
Student-athletes will receive an opportunity to qualify for the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, where they will compete in the same tournament as the nation's top Division I players. Prior to 2017, only one singles player had earned that distinction, by winning the ITA Cup, which pitted the four divisional winners against each other for the right to play in the fall season's final tournament.
This year, each of the four divisional champions (Divisions II, III, NAIA and JUCO) will be automatically entered in the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships, which takes place at the Newport Beach Tennis Club & The Tennis Club at Newport Beach Country Club in Newport Beach, CA November 6-10. Men's and women's doubles will still take part and compete for the ITA Cup, with the winners of those draws moving on to the Oracle ITA National Fall Championships.
Formerly known as the Small College Nationals, the ITA Cup has history dating back to 1986, and it is the only singles and doubles National Championship event for the Division II and NAIA levels. This year, more than 8,000 players took part in a total of 60 regional tournaments to qualify for the ITA Cup field. Each division represented will feature between eight and sixteen singles players and eight to sixteen doubles teams, competing in their respective draws.
To follow all the ITA Cup action visit the event page
HERE
