Five Tennis Players Headed to The Big Apple
LOS ANGELES - The UCLA men's and women's tennis teams will be sending a total of five players to the most prestigious individual tournament of the fall season this week, as the 2014 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championship begin this Thursday at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing, NY.
Representing UCLA on the men's side will be sophomore Mackenzie McDonald and freshman Martin Redlicki. McDonald is seeded third in the 32-player singles draw and opens up play on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. (EST) against Virginia's Tech's Amerigo Contini. McDonald earned acceptance into the singles draw both by winning the consolation title at the ITA Men's All-American Championships and by claiming the main draw singles title at the USTA/ITA Southwest Regionals.
McDonald and Redlicki, Indoor qualifiers by winning the USTA/ITA Southwest Regionals, have received a first-round bye in the 32-team doubles draw. They will open up play on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. against Columbia's Ashok Narayana and Max Schnur.
UCLA's Clay Thompson is the defending National Indoor Intercollegiate Singles Champion, defeating Jared Hiltzik or Illinois in last year's final. The Bruins' other two singles titles were won by Benjamin Kohlloeffel in 2005 and 2006. The only Bruin doubles team to win the title was the tandem of Kevin Kim and Eric Lin in 1997.
On the women's side, Southwest Regional Champion Chanelle Van Nguyen is seeded No. 2 in singles. She opens up play on Thursday against Michigan's Ronit Yurovsky at 11:00 a.m. Fellow senior Robin Anderson also earned a spot in New York by winning the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships, however has elected not to play the event this year. Anderson was a finalist at the Indoors in 2013.
Representing UCLA in doubles will be the team of Catherine Harrison and Kyle McPhillips. After receiving a bye in the first round they will take on Florida's Josie Kuhlman and Peggy Porter on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Harrison and McPhillips earned their spot in New York for winning the back draw at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships.
More information about the 2014 USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships can be found on the ITA's Indoor Tournament Hub Page.