2014 ITA Division III National Men's Team Indoor Championship presented by Dickenson Group, LLC Begins Friday
2014 D3 MTI Scroll
2014 ITA Division III National Men's Team Indoor Championship presented by Dickenson Group, LLC Begins Friday
Six of the nation's Top 10 teams will be in action in Cleveland, Ohio  
 

 

SKILLMAN, NJ (Feb. 19) - The 14th annual ITA Division III National Men's Team Indoor Championship presented by Dickenson Group, LLC is set to get underway Friday, Feb. 21 in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve University will serve as the host institution for the first time in the history of the national championship.

 

Last season, the Kenyon Lords claimed their first ever title, defeating two-time defending champion Emory in the final. The Lords became the fourth team to ever hoist the trophy, with Emory, Gustavus Adolphus and UC Santa Cruz having won multiple championships.

 

Kenyon, 2013 ITA Division III National Men's Team Indoor Champions

 

The winners of Friday's matches advance to the semifinals, which are slated for Saturday at 11am and 2pm EST. The championship match is scheduled for Sunday at 8am EST. For the complete draw, click here.

 

For complete coverage of the 2014 ITA Division III National Men's Team Indoor Championship, including draws, links to live scores, photos and more, please visit the official ITA event page. Follow the ITA on Twitter, @ITAtennis, and like the ITA on Facebook for updates and news from the weekend's events. Use the hashtag #D3Indoors for all tweets in regards to the event, or search the term "D3Indoors" to find others who are tweeting from across the nation about this year's Championship, Feb. 21-23. Below is an in-depth look at the eight teams in the hunt for the 2014 ITA Division III National Men's Team Indoor Championship title.

 

Cal Lutheran

ITA Ranking: 7

Tournament Seed: 4

1st Round Opponent: Trinity (TX)

Head coach Mike Gennette, back for his 21st year as the head coach of the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen, returns five players from his 2013 squad that tied a school record for wins and advanced to the third round of the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Tournament. Headlining the returners will be senior Alex Nichols,a Second Team All-SCIAC performer from a year ago. In his first year with the program, Nichols went 16-9 and finished the year as the No. 23 rated player in the West Region. Nichols also went 16-10 in No. 2 doubles, often pairing with junior Connor Treacy. This fall, Nichols and Treacy advanced to the doubles finals of the USTA/ITA Small College Regional Championships. In addition, junior transfer Moises Cardenas advanced to the final four of the USTA/ITA Small College Regional Championships singles competition.

 

Case Western Reserve

ITA Ranking: 13

Tournament Seed: 7

1st Round Opponent: Kenyon

The Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team enters the ITA Division III National Men's Team Indoor Championship with an overall spring record of 1-0 following a 9-0 sweep of Oberlin College. Sixth-year head coach Todd Wojtkowski, the reigning Wilson/ITA Central Region Coach of the Year, returns an accomplished roster including the team's top two singles players in sophomore Christopher Krimbill and junior Will Drougas. Krimbill is Ranked 44th nationally and 11th in the ITA Central Region. Last season he became the first Spartan to be named an ITA All-American and was tabbed Rookie of the Year by the ITA Central Region and the University Athletic Association. Drougas enters the spring ranked 48th in the nation and 12th and was named to the All-UAA Second Team last season. The two are joined by Eric Klawitter (14th in the region), John Healey, Derek Reinbold and James Fojtasek.

 

Emory  

ITA Ranking: 6

Tournament Seed: 3

1st Round Opponent: Johns Hopkins

Head coach John Browning returns 12 squad members from last year's team that compiled a 16-7 dual record that included a berth in the national quarterfinals. The Eagle mentor welcomes back a strong group of juniors including Eric Halpern, the 2013 ITA South Regional singles champion, Alex Ruderman and Ian Wagner. That trio has combined for 118 singles victories during their careers. Seniors Jackson Isaacs, Nick Szczurek and Ayush Bajoria are seniors who should provide the Eagles a boost both in singles and doubles action throughout the year. Szczurek will serve as the captain on this year's team. Sophomores Rafe Mosetick and Will Adams both contributed significantly during the 2012-13 season after racking up 21 and 15 wins in singles play, respectively.

 

Johns Hopkins

ITA Ranking: 10

Tournament Seed: 6

1st Round Opponent: Emory

The Johns Hopkins men's tennis team has won 65 consecutive regular-season Centennial Conference (CC) matches and seven straight CC titles. The Blue Jays have made the NCAA Tournament in eight straight seasons and in 2012 advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the first time in program history. Director of Tennis Chuck Willenborg has guided the Blue Jays to a 143-42 (.773) record and has turned the program into a perennial Top 10 team. Junior captain Tanner Brown is a two-time All-American in singles and a 2013 All-American in doubles. The Blue Jays have claimed two ITA Southeast Doubles and two singles championships since 2008.

 

Kenyon 

ITA Ranking: 5

Tournament Seed: 2

1st Round Opponent: Case Western

The Kenyon Lords have made 13 appearances in the NCAA Division III Championships since the 2000 season. Five of those times, they made it to the quarterfinal round or deeper. The 2012 season witnessed Kenyon's deepest march, as the Lords got to the NCAA championship match and eventually dropped a 5-3 decision to Emory University. The run left Kenyon with a 24-5 record and final No. 2 national rank. Last season, the 2013 Kenyon men went 25-4, were stopped in the NCAA quarterfinal round and finished the season with a No. 5 rank. On an individual basis, the Lords have had at least one singles player and/or one doubles team participate in the NCAA DIII singles/doubles tournaments in each of the last six seasons.

 

Trinity (TX)

ITA Ranking: 8

Tournament Seed: 5

1st Round Opponent: Cal Lutheran

The Trinity Tigers finished the 2012-2013 season ranked No. 8 in the country with their quarterfinal finish in the NCAA Division III Championships. Trinity also won the SCAC championships for the fourth consecutive year. Aaron Skinner capped his year with a semifinal finish in the NCAA National Singles Tournament. The Tigers also received Team Academic All-American Honors for the third consecutive year. Graduating senior, Erick DelaFuente, received the ITA National Arthur Ashe Sportsmanship and Leadership Award. In the fall of 2013, sophomore transfer Paxton Deuel finished fifth at the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships. Sophomore Eliot Guin and junior Brandon Thompson paired up to win the USTA/ITA Southwest Regional Doubles Championship. The three players became Trinity's newest All-Americans.

 

University of Redlands

ITA Ranking: 14

Tournament Seed: 8

1st Round Opponent: Washington University - St. Louis

After advancing to the second round of the 2013 NCAA Division III Championships, the Bulldogs finished at No. 14 for the program's best showing since 2009. This also marked the program's 12th trip to the postseason under head coach Geoff Roche. The Bulldogs continued their tradition of competing against some of the best teams in the country, which included 13 of the nation's top 30 in the ITA Division III Men's Team Rankings in 2013. This year, Redlands returns junior Patrick Lipscomb as one of the quarterfinalists of last season's individual championships. He was named the ITA National and West Regional Player to Watch.

 

Washington University - St. Louis

ITA Ranking: 4 

Tournament Seed: 1

1st Round Opponent: Redlands

Washington University in St. Louis enters the ITA Division III National Men's Team Indoor Championship with a 3-1 record. The Bears posted a pair of Top 25 wins over No. 18 Gustavus Adolphus (6-3) and No. 24 Wisconsin-Whitewater (6-3) in the opening weekend. The doubles team of junior Ross Putterman and freshman Jeremy Bush are ranked No. 3 nationally after placing third at the 2013 USTA/ITA National Small College Championships. Putterman and Bush have a 10-4 record this season. Bush (No. 26) and freshman John Carswell (No. 42) are also ranked in the Top 50 in the ITA Division III Men's Singles Rankings.

 

About the ITA Division III National Men's Team Indoor Championship

The ITA Division III National Men's Team Indoor Championship is held annually each February. The men's event began in 2001 and will be held for the 14th time in 2014. The event features eight participating teams and is held over three days, beginning on Friday with the quarterfinals, followed by semifinals on Saturday and the final on Sunday. Four different schools have hosted the event, while Emory (5), Gustavus Adolphus (4), UC Santa Cruz (3) and most recently Kenyon (1) are past champions.
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