Three members of the N.C. State men’s tennis team are participating in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championship at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla. this week.
ITA All-American Championship is different than the spring’s regular season play. The competition has an emphasis on singles tournament play as opposed to team competition. The ITA All-American Championship is viewed as the most prestigious event of the fall season. Top finishers in each draw advance to the USTA/ITA National Collegiate Indoor Championships in Flushing, N.Y. from Nov. 7-10.
In fall tournaments, it is possible that players from the same team will face off against each other. The Wolfpack has players in both the singles and doubles qualifying draws.
Eight singles qualifiers will progress to the main draw, and eight doubles teams will qualify for that bracket as well. Singles and doubles main have not been released.
On Monday, State junior Austin Powell, ranked No. 95 in the nation, won his first match in the qualifying draw. Powell, who led the Wolfpack in the 2013 spring season with 21 singles victories, bounced back from a tough first set to upset Ohio State’s Chris Diaz, ranked No. 69 in the country by a score of 2-6, 6-4 and 6-3.
Freshman Nick Horton, the Pack’s other singles representative, was not so fortunate, falling to No. 95 Daniil Proscura of Alabama 6-4, 6-0.
Horton, a native of Sydney, Australia, is the No. 6 freshman in the ITA rankings.
“Nick is an outstanding freshman who will really help us,” assistant coach Mat Cloer said.
On Tuesday, Powell took on David Holiner of Texas and won a tight match 6-3, 6-7(1), 7-5. Powell served for the match in the second set but Holiner fought back.
“Austin was battling himself mentally,” Cloer said. “He was a little bit tight and wasn’t as aggressive as he could be. It’s hard to bounce back when you can see the finish line and don’t get there.”
After falling down a break in the third set, Powell got the last laugh as he came back to win. He will meet Chris Heillar of University of Alabama-Birmingham in the third round on Wednesday.
“He’s a warrior,” Cloer said. “You always know what you’ll get with Austin Powell.”
Horton is also competing in the doubles qualifying draw, which began on Tuesday, alongside senior Sean Weber. Horton and Weber, seeded 12th, received a first round bye and triumphed in their second round match by beating Louisville’s Alex Gornet and Albert Wagner by a score of 8-3. They will next face Tulsa’s Japie De Klerk and Matt Kirby in the third round of qualifying.
“[Sean and Nick] are doing real good things in doubles,” Cloer said. “They were really sharp today. I’m very proud of them.”
Weber led the team in doubles victories in the spring season with 19 along with the now-graduated Dave Thomson. He is gunning for his second doubles title of the fall season. On Sept. 21, he partnered with junior Robbie Mudge to win the black draw of the University of Virginia’s Ranked +1 Invitational in Charlottesville, Va. Weber and Mudge also advanced to the finals of the black bracket in the Duke Fab Four Invitational on Sept. 14 in Cary.
Main draw play begins on Thursday, and the tournament runs through Oct. 6. The next event for State will be the ITA Carolina Regionals, which run from Oct. 17-21 at the Cary Tennis Park.
