UF Repeats as Tennis on Campus Fall Invitational Champions

The University of Florida became the first repeat winner at the USTA Tennis On Campus Fall Invitational as the Gators defended their 2013 title with a 25-18 win over Auburn University on Sunday at the Palmetto Dunes Tennis Center in Hilton Head, S.C.

Captained by sophomore Max Koller of Daytona Beach, Florida showed its strength in doubles and won four out of the five matches in the final, including all three in doubles, at the fifth annual event that serves as the kickoff to the popular Tennis On Campus club season.

“It was a long tournament and all the teams were really good,” Koller said. “The talent level was extremely high and we are happy to repeat as champions.”

Koller did not play on last year’s championship team, joining the squad in November.

“After they won I saw a post on Facebook that they had won the big Fall Invite and I knew they had a really good team,” Koller said. “I wanted to be part of that and had heard how fun Tennis On Campus is.”

Both Florida and Auburn earned an automatic bid to compete for the national title at the 2015 USTA Tennis On Campus National Championship, to be held April 9-11, 2015, in Cary, N.C.

Earlier in the day, Florida just got past University of Georgia’s “B” team in one semifinal as the match went to a super tiebreaker, with the Gators prevailing 23-22. Auburn beat the N.C. State “A” squad 23-16 in the other semifinal. Forty-eight teams competed in the tournament.

https://twitter.com/TennisOnCampus/status/521367958632038400

Individual Results Final Match:

Women’s Doubles
Florida’s Natalie Boruk (Clearwater, Fla.) / Anna Rachman (Daytona Beach, Fla.) def. Auburn’s Jennifer Costigan (Naples, Fla.) / Holly Maxey (Stockbridge, Ga.), 6-0

Men’s Doubles
Florida’s Adam Decker (Panama City, Fla.) / Joey Rudy (Boynton Beach, Fla). def. Auburn’s Danny Hester (Nashville, Tenn.) / Jonathan Hibbert (Montgomery, Ala), 6-4

Women’s Singles
Florida’s Barrie Eisenberg (Weston, Fla.) def. Auburn’s Courtney Johns (Mobile, Ala.), 6-4

Men’s Singles
Auburn’s Mitchell Vegas (Spanish Fort, Ala.) def. Florida’s Joey Rudy (Boynton Beach, Fla.), 6-1

Mixed Doubles
Florida’s Decker / Eisenberg def. Auburn’s Vegas / Johns, 6-4

Other Florida players included: Koller (Daytona Beach, Fla.), Spencer Ong (Tampa, Fla.) and Stephanie Cruz (Palm Harbor, Fla.).

This event marked the fifth consecutive year that the USTA Tennis on Campus program has hosted a season-opening event. The TOC Fall Invitational is designed to give students the chance to compete against club teams from other colleges to maximize their playing experience and to provide an opportunity to claim an automatic bid into the National Championship.

During the Fall Invitational, students not only had an opportunity to socialize with other teams but also networked with representatives from both the Tennis Industry Association and the Professional Tennis Registry to learn about future career opportunities in tennis. Following the tournament, schools continue to compete around the country on a section level, within the USTA’s 17 sections.

The USTA TOC program features more than 37,000 college students competing nationwide in intramural coed club play. Developed by the USTA in partnership with NIRSA (National Intramural Recreational Sports Association), World TeamTennis and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association the program gives college students the opportunity to build leadership skills, network in a coed sports environment and compete on a college team without the rigors of playing in a varsity program. With year-round match play, and sectional and national championship competition, students maintain active and healthy lifestyles through their college years. Since its inception in 2000, Tennis On Campus has grown significantly and today has programs on more than 640 college campuses across the country.