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Marand Chosen For USTA Summer Collegiate Team
June 5, 2008
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. --- North Carolina sophomore Sanaz Marand was one of 12 of the nation's top collegiate tennis players named to the 2008 USTA Summer Collegiate Team, administered by the USTA and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), the USTA announced Thursday. The USTA Summer Collegiate Team is an elite training program for the top American collegiate tennis players that began in 1996 and is funded by the USTA. It is designed to provide college players with valuable exposure to the USTA Pro Circuit in a team-oriented environment during the summer months. Marand, a native of Katy, Texas, just completed one of the best singles seasons in UNC women's tennis history. Marand finished the spring season with a record of 25-2 and was an All-ACC selection after finishing league play with a record of 9-1 primarily at the No. 1 position. Her outstanding regular season also earned her the ITA Southeast Region Player to Watch honor and a spot as a finalist for the national award. Kyle Spencer, assistant director of men's tennis at Baylor, and Rance Brown, assistant head coach of women's tennis at UCLA, will be coaching the men's and women's teams, respectively. Brown helped UCLA to its first-ever NCAA team championship in May. Spencer has spent time coaching on the ATP Tour and before coaching at Baylor, helped coach his alma mater, the University of Southern California, to the NCAA Final Four. The top four American players from the season-ending ITA national singles rankings are eligible for automatic selections, while the remaining two players on each team are selected by USTA Player Development. In 2008, all twelve players on the two teams finished 2008 ranked inside the Top 20 in the final rankings and earned All-American honors. The women's team includes the top six American players from the final national singles rankings: Georgia Tech's McDowell, Stanford's Barte, USC's Fink and UCLA's Zalameda. Zalameda received one of the ITA's highest honors, ITA National Senior Player of the Year, after leading the Bruins to their first-ever NCAA team championship and capturing the 2008 NCAA doubles title.
Stanford's Barte posted a 30-8 overall record -- including a 21-6 record against nationally-ranked opponents -- to earn the ITA National Rookie of the Year award. McDowell is the 2008 NCAA Singles Champion, as she earned her first-ever national singles title in Tulsa two weeks ago. Also joining the team are the next two Americans in the singles rankings, North Carolina's Marand and Georgia Tech's Kristi Miller. Florida's Ouelette and Georgia's Helgeson both finished their final seasons ranked among the Top 5 in the national rankings. Ouelette received the ITA/John Van Nostrand Memorial Award, which awards a stipend to an outstanding senior men's player who plans to pursue a pro tennis career after graduation, while Helgeson led the Bulldogs to a second consecutive NCAA team title. Stanford's Clayton was named ITA Rookie of the Year and Krounage helped the Buckeyes to the Big Ten Tournament title. Florida States' Aubone and Schnugg -- who was also a member of the NCAA champion Bulldogs -- were two of eleven players to finish the season ranked inside the Top 20 in both singles and doubles. Current pros who are past participants on the USTA Summer Collegiate Team include James Blake, Bob and Mike Bryan, Audra Cohen, Amer Delic, Laura Granville, John Isner, Jesse Levine, Todd Paul, Sam Warburg, and Jesse Witten. The following players have been selected to this year's team: Men's Team Women's Team |
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