Several players from Texas schools are competing at the 2009 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Small College Championships, one of collegiate athletics’ most unique events, taking place October 15-18 at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama.
In men’s Division II action, Vjekoslav Stipanic and Bozo Ziputovic of Midwestern State were topped by Armaun Emami/Austin West of UC San Diego, 76 62. I am pretty sure that Vjekoslav and Bozo (or Bo as he is known) don’t stand out in Wichita Falls.
Abilene Christian’s Jaclyn Walker and Dina Pavlin def. Sharon Gill and Milena Vuksanovic of Wayne State, 75 64 in Women’s DII play. They fell in semifinal action to Yuan Jia and Seul Ki Chin of BYU Hawaii, 60 61.
UT-Tyler’s Brad Fenter and Nick Kreinas fell in DIII action to Taylor Borda and Josh Rifkin of Ithaca, 63 64.
Katty Poettcker of Trinity lost to Laura Chen of Carnegie Mellon, 62 61.
In JuCo play, Texas boasts the top two seeds. Top-seeded Damian Hume of Collin Community College def. Lloyd Bruce-Burgess, Cowley, 75 61. Laredo Community College’s Cledson Carvalho, who won the UTSA Invitationals last weekend, won over Joao Nogueira of Fresno City, 63 75.
Carvalho teamed with Felipe Baptista to roll Jacob Smith and Ryan Wilson of Gadsden State, 60 61.
Nadia Lee of defending National Champions, Lee College in Baytown defeated Rachel Rossi of Marion Military 60 61.
In doubles action, Katherine Kelly and Cimen Soy of North Central Texas topped Yumiko Justin and Amy Busch of Reedley 62 60. Lee College’s Lee teamed with Dionica Akina to edge Nachell Proctor and Courtney Spafford of Hillsborough, 63 36 10
Lee and Akina advanced to the final with a 62 63 win over Kelley and Soy.
On a side note, Akina is the daughter of University of Texas Assistant Head Football Coach, Duane Akina.
