The University of Virginia Club Tennis Team Takes Runner-up Honors at USTA Tennis On Campus Fall Invitational



HILTON HEAD, S.C., Oct. 21, 2012 – The University of Virginia club tennis team took home runner-up honors this past weekend at the third annual United States Tennis Association (USTA) Tennis On Campus Fall Invitational held at the Palmetto Dunes Tennis Center. The event served as a kick-off for the Tennis On Campus season. By making the final match, Virginia qualifies for an automatic bid to compete for the national title at the 2013 USTA Tennis On Campus National Championship in Surprise, Ariz., in April.

Virginia lost to Duke in the championship match, 26-23. Earlier in the day, the Cavaliers defeated the Colorado School of Mines “A” team, 27-12, in the semifinals.

Trailing 20-18 entering the final mixed doubles portion of the championship match, Virginia captain Derek Gale teamed with mixed doubles partner Faby Chaillo of Vienna, Va., and knotted their match 5-5 against Duke’s Stephanie Dudzinski and Ernesto Traulsen. But Duke captured the tiebreaker 5-3 to clinch the championship and avenge a defeat in the final against Virginia at this same event last year.

“We gave it all we had and came up a bit short,” Gale said. “It’s a tough one to lose, for sure. We got down a bit in doubles and could never recover. They are a solid team and we hope to see them again at Nationals.”

This event marked the third consecutive year that the USTA Tennis on Campus program has hosted a season-opening event, with 32 teams from across the country participating in the tournament. The event is designed to give students a chance to compete with other college club tennis teams from across the country, to learn about career opportunities from the Tennis Industry Association and the Professional Tennis Registry and provide an opportunity to claim an automatic bid into the National Championship. Following the tournament, schools continue to compete around the country on a sectional level, within the USTA’s 17 sections.

The USTA TOC program features more than 35,000 college students competing nationwide in intramural coed club play. Developed by the USTA in partnership with the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association, World TeamTennis and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, the program gives college students the opportunity to build leadership skills, network in a coed sports environment and compete on a college team without the rigors of playing in a varsity program. With year-round match play, and sectional and national championship competition, students maintain active and healthy lifestyles through their college years. Since its inception in 2000, Tennis On Campus has grown significantly and today has programs on more than 600 college campuses across the country.

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The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level -- from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 785,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, the highest attended annual sporting event in the world, and launched the Emirates Airline US Open Series linking 10 summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S, and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA philanthropic entity, USTA Serves, provides grants and scholarships and helps underserved youth and people with disabilities. For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com, “like” the official Facebook page facebook.com/usta or follow @usta on Twitter.

For more information, contact:
Steve Pratt (on behalf of USTA), Brener Zwikel & Associates, (310) 408-4555 or CLOAKING
Jasmine Sheppard, Communications Coordinator, USTA, (914) 697-2275 or CLOAKING