College Tennis – Evansville Tennis Center

MaddenCo USTA National – Fletchall and Allen Win

etcpoynter@gmail.com — Wed, 10 May 2017 17:57:32 +0000

This past weekend, with the help of MaddenCo, the Evansville Tennis Center hosted its third and final USTA National Junior Tournament of the year. This event, similar to January and March, was a National Level 3- meaning it is the third highest national level tournament the USTA offers. However, this past weekend brought both the Boys’ 18 age division and the Girls’ 18 age division. Players from across the United States traveled to Evansville to compete and at Wesselman Park. Several college coaches were present to watch some of the nations top players.

Local standout Aaron Thompson (Mater Dei) was the only local player originally accepted based on ranking, but Evan Bottorff (Castle) and Caleb Buckman (Owensboro, KY) played as well after accepting entrance via an alternate list. Thompson advanced to the second round, only to lose to the seventh seeded Jake Beasley (Cumming, GA) 6-4,6-1.

Allen (left) Hand (right)

Thompson recovered and won his third match against Ian Altenburg (Chaska, MN) 6-4,6-4. Thompson eventually made it to the semi-finals of the consolation draw only to lose in three sets to Patrick Lazo (Alpharetta, GA) 1-6, 7-6(8), 1-0(9).

Evan Bottorff and his doubles partner, Patrick Fletchall (Carmel, IN) advanced to the semi-finals where they lost to eventual champions, Jake Beasley and Stewart Block (Bradenton, FL) 8-6.

Buckman, who lives in Owensboro, and often trains at ETC, lost in the first round against eighth seeded Grahan Conron (Bradenton, FL) 4-6, 7-5, 1-0(5). His

Duo (left) Fletchall (right)

second match was just as close and competitive. Taylor Streda (Parkland, FL) defeated Buckman 5-7, 6-4, 1-0(8).

Kollie Allen (Lombard, IL) entered the weekend as the top ranked girl with a National Ranking of 31. Allen would prove to be the best player in the draw. Allen advanced to the finals by walkover when Sophia Reddy (Eden Prairie, MN) withdrew due to illness. Allen met Clarissa Hand (Morrestown, NJ) in the finals. Hand beat Emma Jackson (La Grange Park, IL) 7-6(9), 6-2 in the semi-finals. Allen eventually beat Hand 6-4, 6-3 Monday afternoon to take the Singles Championship.

Unseeded Natalie Moyer (Kalamazoo, MI) and Anna Smith (Venetia, PA) beat fourth seeded Bozonvic (La Grange, IL) and Henry (Franklin, TN) 8-5 to secure a spot in the Girls’ Doubles Semi-finals. In the semi-finals they played top seeded Sophia

Beasley (left) Block (right)

Reddy and Zoe Taylor (Long Grove, IL). Moyer and Smith won 9-8(8). On the other half of the draw the sister duo of Christina Hand and Clarissa Hand routinely made their way to the finals. Hand and Hand beat Moyer and Smith 8-5 to capture the Doubles Championship Monday morning.

Boy’s doubles played true to the seeds with the top seeded team of Bill Duo (Portage, MI) and Lucas Horve (Forsyth, IL) met second seeded Jake Beasley and Stewart Block. Beasley and Block eventually topped Duo and Horve 9-8(7) to take home the Doubles title.

Hand/Hand (left) Moyer/Smith (right)

Top seeded Bill Duo, ranked #11 nationally, won cruised to the finals never dropping more than five games in any match. Fifth seeded, Patrick Fletchall entered the tournament ranked #187 beat both the number two and four seeded players on his way to the Boys Finals. Fletchall eventually upset Duo winning 5-7, 6-2, 1-0(4) to take home the singles championship.

Results: To see final and complete draws please click on the event.

National Junior Tournament Brings Top Talent

etcpoynter@gmail.com — Mon, 01 May 2017 19:10:13 +0000

This weekend, May 6-8th, the Evansville Tennis Center will host its third USTA Junior National Tournament of the year. MaddenCo’s sponsored event will bring 64 players to the City of Evansville. The USTA National Level 3 – Sponsored by MaddenCo will hold singles and doubles for both Boys 18s and Girls’ 18s events. Players from all over the country will be competing over three days. Players as high as top 25 in the country are competing in this event. Many of these players have already signed or comitted to play in college. Aaron Thompson of Mater Dei HS, is the only local player who qualified in either draw.

With the help of our sponsor, MaddenCo , the Evansville Tennis Center continues to host bigger and bigger events. This tournament will be the largest high-level junior event Evansville has ever hosted. The tournament will be played at Wesselman Park, and play begins Saturday May 6 at 8:00am. For updates please check back in a few days for copies of the draw. Any other information regarding the USTA National Level 3 – Sponsored by MaddenCo, please visit the Tournament Page on USTA. Here you will find specific match times, and draws.

Come out and support these players as they compete for a National Championship!

USI Signs Local Player Lauryn Thompson

etcpoynter@gmail.com — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 19:52:05 +0000

Lauryn Thompson committed to the University of Southern Indiana this past winter, and made it official Wednesday April 19th when she signed her National Letter of Intent. Lauryn, a senior at Reitz High School held a small ceremony with family, friends and teammates. Lauryn was a two sport athlete at Reitz, but ultimately decided to focus on tennis, in hopes of playing college tennis. She will be playing for Keely Porter, who has served as the Head Coach at USI for 26 years. She is the third ETC player to play for Porter. Brenna Wu (Memorial) and Haley Jones (North) are currently on the roster. Elizabeth Wilm, an Evansville native, played at USI, and now serves as an assistant coach.

Bellarmine Signs Nick Johnson

etcpoynter@gmail.com — Thu, 20 Apr 2017 18:58:44 +0000

Nick Johnson, a Memorial Senior, signed his National Letter of Intent Wednesday afternoon to play for Bellarmine University. Bellarmine is a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference, which includes the University of Southern Indiana and University of Indianapolis. Nick spent most of his senior year rehabbing an injury he suffered in the spring of 2016. Nick becomes the third member of the Memorial senior class to sign a National Letter of Intent.Brandon Wu (Citadel) and Michael Koch (IUPUI) are the other two.

Lukas Greif commits to Florida

etcpoynter@gmail.com — Wed, 19 Apr 2017 18:26:01 +0000

Lukas, a former player and member of the Evansville Tennis Center, verbally committed to the University of Florida over the holiday break. Following the successful summer he had last year, it is not a surprise he was a coveted recruit to many schools and coaches. Greif made the Finals of Easter Bowl in the spring, which catapulted him into the National Clay Court and National Hard Court Tournaments. Greif won both national events, securing a spot to play in the US Open. Stephanie Hazlett, who also played at Florida, has been coaching Lukas since he was 10 years old. Over the past two years Lukas has trained in Indianapolis with Smith Tennis, who Stephanie works with.

Click view the Courier & Press article

Evan Bottorff Heading to Austin Peay

etcpoynter@gmail.com — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 15:02:40 +0000

Evan Bottorff, a senior at Castle High School joined other student athletes at his school to announce his plans for college tennis. He was joined by his mother and father, who also serves as Castle’s Boys Coach. Evan committed to Austin Peay in the fall but yesterdays event made it official. He will be heading down to Clarksville, TN to play for Ross Brown. Ross previously worked at Advantage Court and Fitness, and coached at the University of Evansville and University of Southern Indiana. Austin Peay is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. Austin Peay will begin conference play April 21st.

Brandon Wu Signs with The Citadel

etcpoynter@gmail.com — Thu, 13 Apr 2017 17:23:26 +0000

Memorial HS Senior, Brandon Wu signed his National Letter of Intent to play at Citadel. Citadel is located in Charleston, South Carolina. Brandon will become a valuable member of the team under Coach Kriese. Brandon, in front of many of his friends, teachers and teammates held a ceremony yesterday at Memorial High School. Two of his personal coaches were in attendance and spoke on his behalf; Anna Hazlett, who has known Brandon since he began playing at age 5, and Ryan McDaniel, who has worked with and traveled with Brandon since he was 11. Brandon played just two years of High School tennis. As a senior Brandon advanced to the State Finals before losing to Patrick Fletchall (Carmel HS). Brandon and two of his senior classmates will continue to play tennis in college. Michael Koch has signed to play at IUPUI and Nick Johnson has verbally committed to play at Bellarmine University.

Former ETC Players Help USI to Victory

etcpoynter@gmail.com — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 20:41:16 +0000

Haley Jones and Brenna Wu, both native to Evansville and trained at ETC helped the Lady Eagles win another match.

The University of Southern Indiana women’s tennis team earned its third consecutive victory Wednesday night by defeating Daemen College 8-1 at the Evansville Tennis Center.

USI (6-4) swept doubles play for a 3-0 lead going into singles. Taking the 8-5 win at number one doubles was junior Kelsey Shipman (Olney, Illinois) and senior Brenna Wu (Evansville, Indiana). Shipman would go on to win at number one singles, 6-3, 6-2.

At number three singles, freshman Lauren Hambrock (Terre Haute, Indiana) had a clean sweep, winning 6-0, 6-0. Senior Kymberly Brannon (Louisville, Kentucky) picked up the win at number four singles with a 6-1, 6-2 tally. Brannon and Hambrock also teamed up for an 8-2 win at number two doubles.

Freshman Alex Jamison (Floyds Knobs, Indiana) and junior Haley Jones (Ft. Branch, Indiana) grabbed the win at number three doubles by a score of 8-4. Jones also won at number six singles 6-1, 6-0, while Jamison was the victor at number five 6-0, 6-1.

Next up for the Screaming Eagles is a match against Wright State Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at Wesselman Park.

The University of Southern Indiana men’s tennis team swept Daemen College 9-0 Wednesday afternoon at the Evansville Tennis Center. The win improved the 34^th-ranked Screaming Eagles’ record to 10-5.

Sophomores Ilia Karelin (Ekaterinburg, Russia) and Andrew Dones (Georgetown, Indiana) scored the first point of the day for USI winning at number three doubles 8-0 as the Eagles never looked back. Dones went on to win his number six singles match 6-0, 6-0, while Karelin won at number five 6-1, 6-1.

In singles, sophomore James Hardiman (Backwell Bristol, United Kingdom) tallied a 6-0, 6-0 victory at number one and freshman Denis Davydov (Chorvatsky Grob, Slovakia) grabbed the win at number two, 6-1, 6-2. Hardiman and Davydov teamed up at number one doubles for an 8-4 win.

Picking up the final point in doubles was junior Samuel Kiladejo (London, England) and senior Aaron Barris (Marietta, Georgia) at number two, 8-5. Barris would go on to win at number four singles 6-1, 6-2, and Kiladejo was victorious at number three, 6-2, 6-4.

The Eagles will take part in the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover this weekend, playing Ferris State University, Northwood University and Rockhurst University in Plainfield, Illinois. USI will play Ferris State first on Friday morning at 7:30 a.m.

Greenwell Collects NCAC Award

etcpoynter@gmail.com — Thu, 16 Mar 2017 20:33:51 +0000

Former North HS and ETC player Jordan Greenwell was named NCAC Player of the Week, for the week of Feb 20th. Greenwell is a sophomore at Wabash College. As a freshman Greenwell played all three spots in doubles winning 18 matches and winning 10 of his last 12. Playing steadily at #3 Singles, Greenwell tallying 22 wins.

To read the original story please click here

Lauryn Thompson Signs with USI

etcpoynter@gmail.com — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 19:29:25 +0000

Reitz Senior, Lauryn Thompson has decided where she will play tennis for the next four years. Lauryn, after several months of contemplating and weighing options decided to join Coach Keely Porter at USI. Lauryn is the third ETC player to play for the Screaming Eagles. Both Brenna Wu and Haley Jones are currently on the team now.

Lauryn expects to contribute right away next year. She is hopeful for a successful season as the team returns a few key members, while also adding three recruits.