Tennis Attains Success in ITA Awards and Rankings
06/09/2009
Tennis Attains Success in ITA Awards and Rankings
Final Campbell's/ITA Division II Women's Tennis Rankings
Final Campbell's/ITA Division II Men's Tennis Rankings
2009 Campbell's/ITA Award Winners
2009 Campbell's/ITA Division II All-America Team
Bronxville, NY - The Concordia College men's and women's tennis teams both enjoyed tremendous success this past season on the tennis court, culminating in several individual awards from the International Tennis Association (ITA) and lofty final rankings for both teams.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
The Concordia College women's tennis team finished the 2009 season with an overall record of 17-3 and earned a berth in the NCAA Division II Women's Tennis Championships in Altamonte Springs, FL. It was the second trip to the NCAA Championships for the Clippers in the program's history, with the first trip coming back in 1999. Concordia won three matches in the tournament and advanced to the National Quarterfinal Round, where they fell 5-0 to the Wildcats of Abilene Christian University.
Three Clippers garnered awards from the ITA. Senior Somadi Druker (Capetown, South Africa) was named East Region Senior Player of the Year. Junior Cristina Oliveira (Porto Allegre, Brazil) earned East Region Player to Watch and assistant coach Kylene Murray was named East Region Assistant Coach of the Year. Concordia finished the season ranked 41st in the nation.
MEN'S TENNIS
The Concordia College men's tennis team also pulled off a spectacular season, finishing with a record of 21-4, including a 20-dual match winning streak. The Clippers rode their winning streak all the way to the National Semifinals, where they were defeated by the Bucs of Barry University by a score of 5-3. It was the first National Semifinal appearance in the program's history.
Three Clippers also took home awards from the ITA on the men's side. Senior Henning Ruenz (Muelheim-Kaerlich, Germany) was named East Region Senior Player of the Year and freshman Andrey Boldarev (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) was voted East Region Rookie of the Year. Assistant Coach Daniel Rockhill took home East Region Assistant Coach of the Year. The Clippers concluded the season with a final ranking of 11th in the nation.
Two Clippers also were named to the Campbell's/ITA All-American Team. Sophomore Alex Grubin (Belgrade, Serbia), who finished the year ranked No. 1 in singles play with a 32-1 record and Boldarev, who finished the season with a 25-3 record and ranked No. 33, were both named to the All-American Team. The two also teamed up to be named All-Americans in doubles play as well, finishing with a final ranking of 6th in the nation.
