USTA Collegiate Team Announced; Perkins Jasper Takes Position at ITA; US Open National Playoffs Update

The USTA announced the 2015 Collegiate Team, which this year consists of seven American players who have not yet completed their collegiate eligibility.

They are: Mackenzie McDonald, UCLA, Noah Rubin, Wake Forest*,
Ryan Shane, Virginia, Brooke Austin, Florida, Jennifer Brady, UCLA,*
Julia Elbaba, Virginia, Jamie Loeb, North Carolina
*Player has indicated he/she will turn pro.

When current Virginia assistant Dustin Taylor was the USTA's National Collegiate coach, the team had a set number of spots and the possibility of earning a place on the team through a summer training camp, as detailed in this Tennis Recruiting Network article I wrote back in June of 2013. It also included an opportunity to earn a place on the team with the best results in a number of designated Futures events.

With Stephen Amritraj taking over for Taylor, changes were made, including in some of the automatic criteria. In addition NCAA singles champion, ITA Rookie of the Year, ITA All-American singles champion, USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships singles champion, the highest-ranked American in the final ITA rankings was added as an automatic qualifier, and the ATP and WTA rankings were changed to Top 400 for women and Top 600 for men. (Tommy Paul with his ATP ranking of 451, would be eligible to join the team if he does enroll at Georgia this fall). I spoke with Amritraj about his plans for the program for the Tennis Recruiting Network last fall.

The college coaches traveling to USTA Pro Circuit events for the men are: Bo Hodge (Oklahoma), Derek Schwandt (Georgia Tech), and Christian Groh. For the women, the coaches are: Sara Anundsen (Davidson), Laura Granville (Princeton), Lee Taylor Walker (TCU) and Riza Zalameda (Columbia).

The ITA announced last week that Angel Prinos, the longtime Associate Director and Chief Operating Officer of the organization, would be leaving for a position at the University of Pennsylvania, and today Erica Perkins Jasper was named to succeed Prinos. Perkins Jasper was head women's coach at the University of New Mexico for the past three years; prior to that she was Senior Manager of Junior and Collegiate Competition at USTA Player Development in Boca Raton.  I interviewed Perkins Jasper about her background and USTA responsibilities back in 2010 in this Tennis Recruiting Network article. 

Assistant Kelcey McKenna will take over for Perkins Jasper at New Mexico.

 

Three more sections completed their US Open National Playoff competitions recently with the results below. It's great to see so many future and current college players begin to take advantage of this opportunity. Links to all the draws can be found here.

Midwest:
Women’s Singles: Sara Daavettila
Men’s Singles: Martin Joyce
Mixed Doubles: Tyler Faulkner and Simone Jardim
Women’s Doubles: Daavettila and Alyvia Jones
Men’s Doubles: Charlie Emhardt and Jeffrey B. Schorsch

Southern Cal:
Women’s Singles: Megan McCray
Men’s Singles: Henry Craig
Mixed Doubles: Danielle Lao and Jonny Wang
Women’s Doubles: Lorraine Guillermo and Lao
Men’s Doubles: Haythem Abid and Joel Kielbowicz (Kielbowicz also won men’s singles & mixed doubles in Southwest section competition)

Eastern:
Women’s Singles: Julia Elbaba
Men’s Singles: Nikita Kryvonos
Mixed Doubles: Rima Asatrian and Ilia Shatashvili
Women’s Doubles: Magda Okruashvili and Ketevan Okruashvili
Men’s Doubles: Daniel M. Cochrane and Phillip Simmonds

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Previous results:
Southwest:
Women’s Singles: Jacqueline Cako
Men’s Singles: Joel Kielbowicz
Mixed Doubles: Cako and Kielbowicz
Women’s Doubles: Savannah Slaysman and Allie Sanford
Men’s Doubles: Ben Newell and Zachary Newell

Intermountain:
Women’s Singles: Gail Brodsky
Men’s Singles: Chris Wettengel
Mixed Doubles: Brodsky and Brian Wilson
Women’s Doubles: Jacqueline Cako and Keri Wong
Men’s Doubles: Jordan Kerr and Travis Parrott

Missouri Valley:
Women’s Singles: Sophie Chang
Men’s Singles: Dusty Boyer
Mixed Doubles: Boyer and Julia Schiller
Women’s Doubles: Katherine Cao and Jaci Cochrane
Men’s Doubles: Julio Peralta and Matt Seeberger

Mid-Atlantic:
Women’s Singles: Nika Kukharchuk
Men’s Singles: Mikelis Libietis
Mixed Doubles: Sydney Rider and Matt Stillwagon
Women’s Doubles: Lizzie Baker and Mackenzie Clark
Men’s Doubles: Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese