University of Minnesota B won the 2011 Tennis On Campus Section Championships at Life Time Fitness – Lakeville in Lakeville, Minn. Minnesota B defeated Minnesota A, 28-25, to secure Minnesota's eighth straight USTA Northern Tennis On Campus title. North Dakota State defeated South Dakota, 27-15, for third place.
For photos and video clips from the weekend, click here.
In the finals, Minnesota B was up 8 games going into the mixed doubles. Minnesota A won the mixed doubles 6-3, cutting the deficit to five and sending the match into overtime. Minnesota A then won three more games before Minnesota B clinched the win 28-25.
Minnesota B and North Dakota State both qualified for the Tennis on Campus National Championships April 7-9 in Cary, N.C. Only one team from an institution can qualify for the Tennis on Campus National Championships.
Members of Minnesota B included Alex King, James Wohlers, Sam Lillie, Jason Brooks, Jeremy Edwards, Taylor Reiners, Melanie Vu, Danielle Abraham and Rachel Goldberg. North Dakota State is represented by Adam Gustad, Ryan McGuigan, Tom Schwandt, Kyle Christianson, Matt Makis, Kelly Rensink, Taylor Headlee, Zoe Houle, Erin Swanberg and Erin Seaver.
North Dakota State 2 claimed the Silver Bracket title with a 28-13 win over UW-Superior. Valley City State won the Bronze Division with a 24-21 win over South Dakota 2.
Carleton College won the Team Spirit Award while Katie Paulson of Valley City State and Mike Dailey of South Dakota 1 claimed the Sportsmanship Awards.
For complete results of Sunday's bracket play, click here.
Overall,14 teams from eight different schools around USTA Northern competed this weekend including clubs from Carleton (2), University of Minnesota (3), University of North Dakota, North Dakota State (2), University of South Dakota (2), Valley City State, UW-Stout (2) and UW-Superior.
Teams were divided into four round-robin pools. The four pool-play winners and the top two remaining teams based on winning percentage advanced to the Gold Bracket, while the remaining teams were sent to either the Silver or Bronze division.
Notes From The Weekend
The University of Minnesota won its eighth consecutive USTA Northern Tennis on Campus championship.
North Dakota State has qualified for the Tennis on Campus National Championships in each of its first four seasons of having a club program.
Two years ago, North Dakota State declined its invitation to compete at Nationals, instead staying home to help the sandbagging effort during the terrible spring floods in the Fargo area.
Every member of the North Dakota State club program, except for Vice President Kyle Christianson, is either a freshman or sophomore. Christianson is a senior.
Five doubles teams with the North Dakota State squads played doubles together in high school.
Two members of the Carleton team spent 4 months abroad studying in Copenhagen, Denmark, and were able to prepare for this weekend's Section Championships in their own way. While there, Raphael Coburn (Rockville, Md.) and Brian Kempers (Irvine, Calif.) joined a local club called B93 Tennis (where they only had red clay) so they could keep on top of their games. Also playing at B93 was one of the country's top players, Tore Deluriam-Skjold, who is ranked 12th in Denmark and in the top 1,000 of the world. One day, Deluriam-Skjold's coach asked Coburn and Kempers if they would hit with his star pupil so he could face a live ball. They said, "they did O.K. against him."
Congratulations to Jenessa Demers of UW-Superior, who was named the USTA Northern Tennis on Campus Organizer of the Year, and North Dakota State who was the Club of the Year. Both were honored at a pre-tournament reception on Friday. To read more about their incredible accomplishments, click here.
The University of Minnesota teams have a unique way of raising money for their club program ... they clean up the athletic facilites after different events at the U.
The University of Minnesota program has two former NCAA players who are now in graduate school there, two from Canada, one from Brazil, one from Norway, one from Russia and one player from France.
Valley City State works directly with its local CTA - the Valley City Tennis Association - to help promote tennis in their community. They volunteer at the local Tennis Block Party, as well as promote tennis in the schools.
Almost every player competing in this tournament was part of a No-Cut High School program!
NDSU senior Kyle Christianson serves as the head coach of the Wahpeton High School tennis teams, in addition to all of his Tennis on Campus responsibilities, while sophomore President Adam Gustad serves as a summer Jr. Team Tennis coach and will be the JTT Area League Coordinator for Fargo, West Fargo and Moorhead this summer. What a great way to promote your program!