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Virginia's Devvarman,
Illinois' Rowe advance in men's singles finals;
Arkansas's Miseviciute, Clemson's Mijcaika to face
off in women's singles final
COLUMBUS, OHIO – Final match-ups
are set at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association
(ITA) National Indoor Championships hosted by The
Ohio State University at the Racquet Club of
Columbus. Illinois's Ryan Rowe beat Adam Homstrom
from Denver in Saturday's semifinals and will face
NCAA champ Somdev Devvarman from Virginia in
tomorrow's men's singles final. On the women's side,
Arkansas's Aurelija Miseviciute beat Taylor Ormond
from Baylor to advance to the finals, where she will
face off against Clemson's Ani Mijacika.
In doubles, USC's Robert Farah
and Kaes Van't Hof beat Kellen Damico and Luis Diaz
Barriga from Texas, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Farah and Van't
Hof will try to echo past successes: USC leads all
schools with four men's doubles champions (the last
ones being Brian MacPhie and Jon Leach in 1992) and
Van't Hof's father, Robert, reached the singles
final at inaugural ITA Indoor in 1978, before
winning the NCAA title in 1980. The USC duo will
take on No.1 seeds Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey
from Virginia, who beat Taylor Fogelman and Chris
Kearney from UNC, 6-4, 6-4. Devvarman is looking to
become the first player to sweep the men's singles
and doubles titles since Oklahoma State's Pavel
Kudrnac did it in 1998; only two other players have
accomplished the feat in tournament history: USC's
Luke Jensen in 1987 and Trinity's Erick Iskersky in
1979.
In women's doubles, Notre Dame's Brook Buck and
Kelcy Tefft beat TCU's Macall Harkins and Anna
Sydorska 6-4, 6-3 to advance to the finals. They
will take on Lenka Broosova and Zuzana Zemenova from
Baylor, who beat Miami's Romy Farah and Caren
Seenuth, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-2. Buck and Tefft made it to
the semifinals of last year's Indoors, and won the
ITA National Summer title in 2006, as well as five
USTA national doubles titles together in the junior
ranks. Both Buck and Tefft are Oklahoma natives, and
are 13-2 so far this season. Baylor's Broosova and
Zemenova are both from Slovakia, and have registered
a 12-2 mark this fall. It will be the first
appearance in a doubles final for both schools.
Arkansas and Clemson are also making their first
appearances in the finals this year. Arkansas's
Miseviciute beat Ormond in the semifinal 6-3, 6-2,
while Mijacika beat Duke's Ellah Nze 6-1, 6-1. Miseviciute
has a 25-1 record so far this season, with 15 of her
wins coming against ranked opponents. Mijacika
becomes the first women's player since Duke's Ansley
Cargill in 2000-01 to reach All-American and Indoor
singles finals in same season; she lost to Cal's
Susie Babos in All-American final last month
Devvarman, Virginia's first finalist, advanced with
a 6-4, 6-4 win over Stanford's Alex Clayton, while
Rowe beat Homstrom, 7-6(7), 6-3. Rowe is Illinois's
third National Indoors finalist; the last Illinois
player in the finals was Ryler DeHart, who won the
tournament in 2004. Rowe, a senior from Moline,
Illinois, is having the best singles tournament of
his career. Previously, his best singles finish was
a quarterfinal appearance at the 2006 All-American.
He has had success in doubles as well, as Rowe was a
part of a team that won the NCAA championships in
2006, and made it to the NCAA finals in 2007. His
match against Devvarman in the finals will be the
first career meeting between the two. Devvarman, a
senior from Chennai, India who is 13-1 this season,
has not lost a set in this tournament so far. His
victory on Saturday against Clayton was his 126th
career singles win, which broke Brian Vahaly's
school record.
All final matches will be played on Sunday;
consolation matches will start the action at 9 a.m.,
with main draw finals beginning at 10:30 a.m.
Admission is free.
The tournament can be followed on the ITA official
website (www.itatennis.com)
and on
thebraingame.net, which will be broadcasting
live streaming video and interviews of Sunday's
finals action.
Men's Singles
Semifinals
Somdev Devvarman, Virginia (1), def. Alex Clayton,
Stanford, 6-4, 6-4.
Ryan Rowe, Illinois, def. Adam Holmstrom, Denver,
7-6(7), 6-3.
Women's Singles Semifinals
Aurelija Miseviciute, Arkansas, def. Taylor Ormond,
Baylor, 6-3, 6-2.
Ani Mijacika, Clemson (4), def. Ellah Nze, Duke,
6-1, 6-1.
Men's Doubles Semifinals
Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey, Virginia, (1) def.
Taylor Fogelman and Chris Kearny, UNC, 6-4, 6-4
Robert Farah and Kaes Van't Hof, USC, def. Kellen
Damico and Luis Diaz Barriga, Texas, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Women's Doubles Semifinals
Lenka Broosova and Zuzana Zemenova, Baylor, def.
Romy Farah and Caren Seenuth, Miami, 6-7(4), 6-2,
6-2.
Brook Buck and Kelcy Tefft, Notre Dame, def. Macall
Harkings and Anna Sydorska, TCU, 6-4, 6-3.
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