Jeannine Liang (SR, Palos Verdes), Guillaume Schils (FR, Shaker Heights,
OH) and Larry Wang (FR, Orange) will compete this weekend at the 2005
Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Small College
Championships. The event is hosted by Florida Gulf Coast University in
Fort Myers and takes place Oct. 13-16. All three students qualified for
the tournament by winning the Wilson/ITA West Regional Championships on
Oct. 2. Complete tournament information can be found at:
http://www.itatennis.com/FGCU05.htm.
The ITA National Small College Championships began in 1986 and annually
crowns men's and women's singles and doubles national champions in each
of the ITA's four small college divisions (NCAA Divisions II and III,
NAIA and Junior/Community College). Participants are determined through
the Wilson/ITA Regional Championships, held in September and October,
which serve as qualifying tournaments.
At the ITA National Small College Championships, each division (men's and
women's singles and doubles) consists of the eight champions from the
regional tournaments, from which a national (divisional) champion is
determined during the first 2 1/2 days of competition. These
national champions from each division then square off in the "Super
Bowl" of Small College Tennis (during the weekend) to determine the
overall ITA National Small College Champions, who then earn berths into
the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, a Division I
event in November.
CMC students, who enter the tournament as individuals, instead of as
members of their athletics team due to conference rules, fared quite well
at the Wilson/ITA West Regional.
In addition to Liang winning the women's singles, Yasmin Entekhabi (SO, Agoura) reached the semi-finals. Schils' and Wang's winning men's double performance was accompanied by semi-final appearances by Kyle Ellison (SR, Pukalni, HI)-David Oehm (JR, Menlo Park) and Ben Hough (SO, Spokane, WA)-Jack DePaolo (SO, Asheville, NC). Eric Chow (JR, Sunnyvale) reached the semi-finals of the men's singles, Stephanie Hammond (SO, Mercer Island, WA)-Lisa Steckmest (SO, Pacific Palisades) reached the semi-finals of the women's doubles and Entekhabi-Liang reached the women's doubles final.