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ITA National Fall Championships Selections

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In 2017, the ITA National Fall Championships replaced the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships. It serves as the grande finale to the fall collegiate tennis season with a unique qualifying format: players qualify by competing in one of twelve Regional tournaments. The two finalists of the Regional tournament earn direct entry into the national event. The twelve regional events happen throughout the fall season with the majority happening in the middle of October. The ITA National Fall Championships kick off in San Diego from November 2-6, 2022.  Full singles selection criteria: 24 - Regional Selections (2 players per ITA region) 4 - All-American Semifinalists 2 - ITA Wild Cards 1 - Milwaukee Tennis Classic Wild Card 1 - ITA Cup Wild Card Women's Selections Criteria Champion Finalist Final Date (Draw) Northwest Alexandra Yepifanova (STAN) Angelica Blake (STAN) 10/18 Southwest Savannah Broadus (PEPP) Kimmi Hance (UCLA) 10/24 Mountain Taylor Melville (Denver) Molly Helges...

Transferpalooza: Year 3 Women’s Superlatives

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In 2020, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to all athletes whose season was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic. I wrote about how that caused a transferpalooza in tennis (and other sports) as many students took advantage of their added eligibility, often transferring and getting graduate degrees at other programs.  As we enter the third year of the transferpalooza era, I decided to award some transfer superlatives to the most eye-catching moves in women’s tennis. It was no easy task: there are 12 incoming transfers to 8 of the top 10 women’s programs – only #2 Oklahoma and #7 Texas A&M don’t have incoming transfers. Full list is at the end of the article.  Look out for the men’s superlatives next week!  Duke: Transfer U In 2021, Pepperdine was the undisputed winner of the Transfer U crown after it brought in NCAA semifinalist Janice Tjen (Oregon) and 3x All-American Vicki Flores (Georgia Tech). This year, Pepperdine brings in two excellent graduate tran...

CliffsNotes: NCAA Tennis Committee Meeting, June 2022

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You can listen to the inaugural episode of the No-Ad, No Problem podcast discussing this article on Spotify or Apple Podcasts ! In late June, less than a month after the conclusion of the 2022 NCAA Tennis Championships in Champaign, Illinois, the NCAA Tennis Committee met for their annual meeting. The 12-person committee, joined by NCAA staff and guests from the ITA and USTA, discussed a variety of topics ranging from mundane administrative actions to dismantling the current team and individual format. I read the meeting notes (and between the lines), so you don’t have to!  High-level takeaways on the meeting notes, consensus decision making, and TV In general, the notes are heavy on formality and feel intentionally vague on more consequential topics. On one hand, you get detailed information on the updated referee pay scale, but on the other hand, no viewership metrics from TennisONE, despite it being a topic on the agenda. Additionally, if you ever need synonyms for “group o...