I just wanted to shoot you a tennis-related item that’s a little different. A team from Villanova will be among those competing this week at the March 11-13 USA Team Tennis National Campus Championships in Daytona Beach, at the Florida Tennis Center.

This unique event features co-ed non-varsity and club tennis teams from colleges and universities across the country. This year a record 34 schools will be participating in this fifth annual event (Florida won last year’s title). Former U.S. Davis Cup captain Tom Gullikson will be on hand for the final and there are also plans to have a highlight show of the event broadcast on the Tennis Channel.

Six years ago the ITA, USTA, and National Intramural-Recreational Sports Assoc. (NIRSA) formed a partnership to foster increased interest and participation in the sport of tennis throughout the college and university campus community and this national tournament is one of the major parts to this effort. The numbers work out that there are about 300,000 high school tennis players in the U.S. and 25,000 college players. So each year close to 70,000 incoming college freshmen were leaving the sport at the competitive level. This tournament and program is a part of an aggressive effort is to keep these players playing tennis, not only in college, but throughout their adult lives. So far it’s working … this event keeps growing, more than tripling in size since the first tournament in 2000. And it’s perhaps collegiate athletics at it’s purest – college kids paying their own way to travel hundreds of miles to compete in a sport they love.

Please let me know if you’d like any contact info, team reps, others affiliated w/ the event, etc.

Best,Casey Angle/ITA507-287-8881

For Immediate ReleaseContact: Casey Angle, ITA (507-287-8881)Feb. 26, 2004

Record 34 schools to compete at 2004 USA Team Tennis National Campus Championships in Daytona Beach March 11-13; Tom Gullikson to be on hand

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Fifth Annual USA Team Tennis National Campus Championships will be taking place March 11-13 at the Florida Tennis Center. This unique event features non-varsity and club teams from colleges and universities from across the country.

Former U.S. Davis Cup Captain Tom Gullikson will be on hand as a special guest for this year’s event. Gullikson served as the 36th U.S. Davis Cup captain from 1993-99, captaining the team to the 31st Davis Cup title for the United States in 1995. He is also a member of the ITA Collegiate Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame.

Forty teams from a record 34 schools will be participating in this year’s event. Highlighting this year’s tournament are the past two champions, defending champ Florida and 2002 champ Texas A&M.

The 34 schools competing this year are: Alabama, California, Central Florida, Clemson, Colorado, Colorado State, Cornell, Delaware, Flagler, Florida, Florida International, Georgia Tech, Harvard, James Madison, Johns Hopkins, Kentucky, Lehigh, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina State, Ohio University, Penn State, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rutgers, Sam Houston State, Texas A&M, The College of New Jersey, UCLA, UNC-Wilmington, Villanova, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Western Washington. All told, 15 of the 17 USTA sections are being represented and the 34 schools come from 22 different states (with one from Puerto Rico).

The tournament is administered by the United States Tennis Association (USTA), Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA). Six years ago the ITA, USTA, and NIRSA formed a partnership to foster increased interest and participation in the sport of tennis throughout the college and university campus community and this national tournament is one of the major parts to this effort.

The first two days of the tournament will consist of pool play. The finals take place on Saturday, March 13, at 3:30 p.m. ET. The team format is co-ed, using the World TeamTennis format of men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

On March 11-12 pool play begins at 8 a.m. and takes place all day, concluding at approx. 6 p.m. On Sunday, March 13, playoffs begin at 8 a.m., with the finals at 4 p.m. Admission to the event is free.###