DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – For the third year in a row, Embry-Riddle tennis will have four student-athletes competing for national titles at the USTA/ITA National Small College Championships. When tournament play begins on Thursday,
Patrick Besch will be competing in the men's singles bracket and will team up with
Simon Felix in doubles play. On the women's side, Hui I Huang and
Kristina Marova will be vying for a national doubles title.
Besch earned a spot in the men's singles field of eight with an upset of 2011 ITA/NAIA National Champion
Chris Freeman in the championship match of the ITA Florida Regional. The tournament's No. 2 seed, Besch will take on Concordia's (Calif.) Bruno Kliskinic at 8:30 a.m. (CST) in the opening round.
After pairing with Felix to best Freeman and
J.R. Leonik in the regional doubles final, Besch, who partnered with
Adrian Bayh to win the 2011 national doubles crown, begins his quest for a second national title in doubles play when he and Felix take on Graceland's Juan Jose Mateus and Raul Mendez at 1 p.m. (CST) on Thursday. Like Besch and Bayh, who were seeded No. 1 last year, Besch and Felix are the top-seeded duo in the tournament field.
Huang and Marova were runners-up in the regional tournament, but, as the first alternate, they received an at-large bid to the national tournament when the top-seeded tandem from Auburn Montgomery had to withdraw. The Embry-Riddle duo begins its tournament at 3 p.m. (CST) on Thursday when they take on Rocio Cardo and Laura Vergara from Lindsey Wilson.
The USTA/ITA National Small College Championship is the only national championship event for singles and doubles at the NCAA Division II and NAIA levels. It is also the only tournament that combines all levels of Junior/Community College (NJCAA Divisions I and III and the California division). The singles and doubles champions at each divisional level will then compete to become the overall “Super Bowl” champions. The "Super Bowl" champions earn wild cards into the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships with the opportunity to win the culminating event held at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
