Oct. 31, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
ITA National Indoor Player Roster
After becoming the first Nittany Lion to claim a singles championship at the ITA Northeast Regionals, senior Michael James (Clifton, Va.) will travel to Columbus, Ohio this weekend for the ITA Intercollegiate National Indoor Tennis Championships. Play will run from Nov. 1-4 at the Racquet Club of Columbus.
James, who is ranked 35th in the ITA national rankings, will open play in the 32-player main draw with a match against 78th-ranked Denes Lukacs of Baylor. The Nittany Lion senior takes a 14-3 fall record into the tournament. He is fresh off defeating Harvard's Dan Nguyen (6-1, 6-0) in the ITA Northeast Regional finals. James, who was on the 2007 All-Big Ten Team, dropped just one set during his march through the draw at the regional tournament. This will mark James' second national tournament of the fall. He participated in the Polo/Ralph Lauren ITA All-American Championships in early October.
Lukacs qualified into the ITA National Indoor Championships by winning the ITA South Central Championship. The Baylor sophomore brings a stout 16-2 fall record into Columbus. Lukacs also participated in the All-American Championships, where he advanced into the round of 32. His run included a 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory over ninth-ranked Ryan Rowe of Illinois.
The winner of the James/Lukacs match will either battle No. 1 Somdev Devvarman of Virginia or No. 88 Andrei Daescu of Oklahoma in the round of 16.
The ITA National Indoor Tennis Championships men's singles draw features 32 of the nation's elite collegiate players. In all, 30 of the 32 competitors are ranked in the ITA National Singles Rankings, including eight of the current top 10.
Action at the ITA National Indoor Championships will take place all weekend in Columbus. Following first round action on Thursday, the main draw round of 16 and quarterfinals will take place on Friday, with the semifinals on Saturday and the final on Sunday. Consolation play begins on Friday.
The Nittany Lion tennis team will be in action again next week for the Big Ten Singles Championship in Ann Arbor, Mich. Action will run from Nov. 9-11.