Johnson, Falconi top Singles; Stanford, Tennessee top Doubles
SKILLMAN, N.J. -- The 2009 NCAA Champions, USC men and Duke women, open the 2010 season right where they finished -- sitting atop of the Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings.
Men of Troy March to 17th: The USC men marched their way through the 2009 NCAA Championship with a 4-1 victory over Ohio State to claim the Trojans' 17th NCAA team title. USC finished the 2009 season with a 25-5 overall record -- the same mark it hit in 2002 when it won its last national championship, on the same George P. Mitchell Tennis Center courts as seven years prior. The 2009 NCAA Championship is the first for USC head coach Peter Smith, who had tallied his 400th career victory in the Southern California's quarterfinal upset of top-seeded Virginia. The title match against the Buckeyes was also Smith's first visit to the NCAA final. Now with 17 NCAA team titles all-time, USC is tied with Stanford for the most men's tennis national championships.
Duke's Blue Heaven: The Blue Devils powered their way to a 4-0 sweep of California in the 2009 NCAA Women's Tennis National Championship match. Duke captured its first national title in women's tennis and 10th overall national trophy in school history. Duke turned in its 18th consecutive win and 29th victory of the season in the title match. The Blue Devils' 29 wins was the second most in program history, while its 18-match win streak to close out the year also ranks second. Even though the Blue Devils return four players who are currently ranked in the top 100, they have a tall order in replacing last year's freshman sensation, Mallory Cecil, who went on to claim the NCAA Singles title and Campbell/ITA Women's National Player of the Year award before turning pro.
Follow the Leader: For the men, following USC is (in order): Virginia, Ohio State, UCLA, Tennessee, Baylor, Georgia, Texas, Stanford and Ole Miss. On the women's side, Duke is followed by Northwestern, California, Georgia, Baylor, Notre Dame, Miami (FL), Florida, USC, and Georgia Tech.
Conference Count: Men's Top 25: SEC - 7; ACC - 5; Big 12 and Pac-10 - 4; Big Ten - 2; Big East, WAC and WCC - 1. Five different conferences placed at least one team in the top 10, with three Pac-10 schools from the state of California (USC, UCLA and Stanford) claiming three of the top 10 spots. Women's Top 25: SEC - 8; ACC - 6; Pac-10 - 5; Big Ten - 2; Big 12, Big East, Conference USA and WAC - 1. The top six spots are each filled by a team from a different conference while four Pac-10 schools from the Golden State (California, USC, UCLA and Stanford) are among the top 13.
Twice as Nice: Twelve schools have both their men's and women's programs ranked inside this week's top 25.
TEAM | MEN | WOMEN |
Alabama | 18 | 25 |
Baylor | 6 | 5 |
Duke | 19 | 1 |
Florida | 11 | 8 |
Florida State | 13 | 15 |
Georgia | 7 | 4 |
Miami (FL) | 21 | 7 |
Mississippi | 10 | 21 |
Stanford | 9 | 13 |
Tennessee | 5 | 11 |
UCLA | 4 | 12 |
USC | 1 | 9 |
Singled Out:
Rank | Player | School |
| Rank | Player | School |
1 | Steve Johnson | USC |
| 1 | Irina Falconi | Georgia Tech |
2 | John-Patrick Smith | Tennessee |
| 2 | Jana Juricova | California |
3 | Michael Shabaz | Virginia |
| 3 | Denise Dy | Washington |
4 | Guillermo Gomez | Georgia Tech |
| 4 | Anastasia Petukhova | Fresno State |
5 | Dimitar Kutrovsky | Texas |
| 5 | Yasmin Schnack | UCLA |
6 | Moritz Baumann | Wisconsin |
| 6 | Caitlin Whoriskey | Tennessee |
7 | Alexandre Lacroix | Florida |
| 7 | Laura Vallverdu | Miami (Florida) |
8 | Eric Quigley | Kentucky |
| 8 | Maria Sanchez | USC |
9 | Ed Corrie | Texas |
| 9 | Josipa Bek | Clemson |
10 | Andrei Daescu | Oklahoma |
| 10 | Marina Cossou | California |
Double Dose:
Rank | Player | Player | School |
| Rank | Player | Player | School |
1 | Bradley Klahn | Ryan Thacher | Stanford |
| 1 | Caitlin Whoriskey | Natalie Pluskota | Tennessee |
2 | Dennis Nevolo | Marek Czerwinski | Illinois |
| 2 | Lindsay Burdette | Hilary Barte | Stanford |
3 | Moritz Baumann | Marek Michalicka | Wisconsin |
| 3 | Gabriela Mejia | Laura Vallverdu | Miami (FL) |
4 | Boris Conkic | JP Smith | Tennessee |
| 4 | Josipa Bek | Ina Hadziselimovic | Clemson |
5 | Houston Barrick | Sanam Singh | Virginia |
| 5 | Lauren Embree | Allie Will | Florida |
Kicking Off 2010: The second annual ITA Men's and Women's Kick-Off Weekend will take place Jan. 29-Feb. 1, 2010, at select campus host sites. This year's Kick-Off Weekend Draft took place June 3-4, as teams selected which route they would take to get to the 2010 ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
The ITA Kick-Off Weekend features 15 men's and 15 women's host sites, with four teams at each site vying to advance to the Team Indoor Championship. The 15 men's teams to win both of their matches at these events will be invited to play in the Feb. 12-15 ITA National Team Indoor Championships at the Boar's Head Sports Club (hosted by the Univ. of Virginia), while the 15 women's teams to win both of their matches will be invited to play in the Feb. 12-15 ITA National Team Indoor Championship at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium (hosted by the Univ. of Wisconsin).
Next ITA Rankings: Weekly team rankings begin on Jan. 26. Singles and doubles rankings are published every other week starting Feb. 18. Campbell/ITA College Tennis rankings can be found at www.itatennis.com.