UCLA, USC claim top spots in ITA Division I College Tennis Rankings

 

UCLA returns six singles starters from a lineup that defeated North Carolina in the NCAA Division I Championship match in May, 4-3. Ranked second behind UCLA are the Duke

UCLA returns all six singles starters from its 2013-14 championship roster

Blue Devils, who return four singles starters from a 2013-14 roster that won the ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoors Championship in February. UCLA and Duke squared off twice last season and split the two matches. In February, Duke rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championships finals to win the title 4-3, while UCLA avenged the loss in May by beating the Blue Devils 4-2 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships.

 

On the men's side, the USC Trojans are the top-ranked team in the ITA Division I National Men's Team Rankings. Like their crosstown rivals on the women's side, USC won the NCAA

USC defeated Oklahoma in the NCAA Championship last May

Championships in May, doing so for the fifth time in six seasons. USC returns five starting singles players and two starting doubles teams from last season. Trailing USC in the ITA Division I National Men's Team Rankings are the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners finished as runners-up to USC in the NCAA Championships in May, and the program achieved its first ever No. 1 team ranking last season. Oklahoma returns four of six singles starters from last season but must replace former first-singles player Guillermo Alcorta, who finished No. 3 in the ITA Singles Rankings last year. 

 

Double-dip: Sixteen schools have both men's and women's programs ranked in the Top 25.

 

School	Men	Women
Baylor Bears	6	15
California Bears	15	7
Clemson Tigers	24	13
Duke Blue Devils	12	2
North Carolina Tar Heels	6	4
Oklahoma State Cowboys	25	19
Texas A&M Aggies	10	10
UCLA Bruins	4	1
Florida Gators	13	3
Georgia Bulldogs	8	5
Notre Dame Fighting Irish	14	20
Oklahoma Sooners	2	24
USC Trojans	1	14
Texas Longhorns	9	22
Virginia Cavaliers	3	6
Vanderbilt Commodores	19	11

 

Elbaba, Stiefelmeyer tops in singles: University of Virginia junior Julia Elbaba is the No. 1 ranked player in the ITA Division I Women's National Singles Rankings and University of Louisville senior Sebastian Stiefelmeyer is the top-ranked man in the ITA Division I Men's National Singles Rankings. Both players won national singles championships in the fall; Stiefelmeyer won the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships in September while Elbaba won the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in November. Stiefelmeyer began the 2013-14 season as the No. 110 player in the ITA Division I Men's Preseason Rankings before rising to the No. 1 with a 17-2 fall record. Elbaba advanced to the top spot from No. 5 in the ITA Division I Women's Preseason Rankings.

 

Joining Elbaba in the Top 5 are two players from UCLA; Robin Anderson is ranked No. 2 and Chanelle Van Nguyen is No. 3. Stanford's Carol Zhao is ranked No. 4 and California's Maegan Manasse checks in at No. 5. The 2013-14 ITA National Player of the Year, Jamie Loeb of North Carolina, is ranked No. 8.

 

Trailing Stiefelmeyer in the men's Top 5 are North Carolina's Brayden Schnur at No. 2, USC's Yannick Hanfmann at No. 3, Virginia's Thai-Son Kwiatkowski at No. 4 and Baylor's Julian Lenz at No. 5. Schnur, who began the season ranked No. 7 in the ITA Division I Preseason Rankings, rose to No. 2 after winning the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships singles title in November.  

On the men's side, USC's Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz are ranked No. 1 in the ITA Division I Men's National Doubles Rankings. Hanfmann and Quiroz also won the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in November, and they placed second in the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships in September.

Fab freshman: Several freshmen caught the attention of the college tennis world during the 

Florida's Brooke Austin is the highest ranked freshman.

fall and made their way into the Top 30 entering the spring season.  

 

Florida freshman Brooke Austin made the biggest impression of all freshman. Semifinal finishes at both fall national tournaments propelled Austin to the No. 6 overall ranking. Austin was the No. 1 ranked player in the 2014-15 Division I Preseason Women's Newcomer/Freshman Rankings.

 

Austin's teammate Josie Kuhlman also cracked the Top 10 after posting an 18-4 fall record. Kuhlman is ranked No. 9. California's Karla Popovic is the third Top 30 freshman, checking in at No. 30.

  

On the men's side, No. 18 Nicolas Alvarez of Duke, No. 23 Andrew Watson of Memphis, No. 24 Cameron Norrie of TCU and No. 25 Tom Fawcett of Stanford are the highest ranked freshmen. Alvarez was the No. 8 ranked player and Norrie was No. 3 in the 2014-15 Division I Preseason Men's Newcomer/Freshman Rankings. 

 

Making the most of the fall: Several players on the men's and women's side made noteworthy leaps up the ITA National Singles Rankings this fall. Louisville's Sebastian Stiefelmeyer climbed 109 spots from No. 110 all the way to No. 1, while Virginia's Thai-Son Kwiatkowski improved 76 spots in going from No. 80 to No. 4. Tulane's Dominik Koepfer improved 89 spots into the Top 10 at No. 9. Koepfer entered the fall ranked No. 98.

 

On the women's side, Maegan Manasse of California made the biggest leap by rising 38 spots from No. 43 to No. 5. Manasse started her fall with an upset win over preseason No. 1 Jamie Loeb in the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships in September. Manasse continued her surge by reaching the final of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in November. Other big risers include Oklahoma State's Viktoriya Lushkova, who jumped from No. 26 in the preseason to No. 10 and Vanderbilt's Sydney Campbell improved from No. 50 to No. 15.

 

Conference count: How the men's and women's Top 25 team rankings are divided up by conference: Men's Top 25: (SEC - 7; ACC - 6; Big-12 - 4; Pac-12 - 3; Big-10 - 2; AAC - 2; Ivy League - 1). Women's Top 25: (ACC - 7; SEC - 7; Pac-12 - 4; Big-12 - 4; Big-10 - 2; C-USA - 1).

 

Next ITA Rankings: Team rankings will be published weekly beginning on Jan. 20 through the end of the season, excluding the weeks during ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships in February. Singles and doubles rankings are published every other week beginning on Feb. 10.

 

 

About the ITA Rankings  

As the governing body of college tennis, the ITA administers the ITA College Tennis Rankings (Singles, Doubles, and Team) that are designed to track the top men and women teams and singles and doubles players in NCAA Divisions I, II, III, NAIA, Junior Colleges and California Junior Colleges. For full rankings information, please visit http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankings/Rankings.htm.