Three Spartans Start ITA All-American Championships On Saturday
10/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Oct. 1, 2009
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SPARTANBURG, S.C. - It will be a long road, but for the USC Upstate men's tennis team, it's already been a long road to just be invited to the D'Novo/ITA All-American Championships, which kick off this weekend at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center at the University of Tulsa. A trio of Spartan men are the first men's players in school history, joining Anna Novo, who competed in the women's All-American Championships in 2008.
Three players, Javier Tori, Jack Roux and Edgar Rodriguez will start a 10-day long odyssey with the 256-man pre-qualifying singles bracket on Saturday, needing to win four matches in two days to move onto qualifying. The qualifying singles, which begins on Monday, is a 128-man draw, with players needing to win three matches in as many days to advance to the 48-man main draw, which begins on Thursday.
The doubles team of Javier Tori and Jack Roux will also become the first doubles team to compete at the All-American Championships, as they will start in the 64-team qualifying field on Tuesday, needing to win three matches to advance to the 32-team main draw, which begins on Thursday.
2008 Tournament Recap
The 2008 Atlantic Sun Conference Player of the Year, senior Anna Novo fell in the opening round of pre-qualifying at the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships to 107th-ranked Noelle Hickey of Georgia Tech, 6-1, 6-1, in the pre-qualifying draw on Sept. 27 at Pepperdine University. Novo was the first Spartan to ever compete at the event.
Short Shots
• Sophomore Edgar Rodriguez advanced to the round of 32 at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships in Division I, joining senior Javier Tori and Sandy Franz '09 as the only players in school history to reach the second round in Division I at the oldest fall tournament in collegiate tennis.
• Senior Renzo Airaldi joined senior Javier Tori as the only players in school history to reach the second round of the Southern Intercollegiates twice in their careers. Airaldi reached the second round of the Division II bracket in 2007 and 2009 while Tori reached the second round in 2007 (Division I) and the quarterfinals in 2008 (Division II).
• In two years of Division I play, the Spartans have a combined singles record of 89-50 (.640) at fall tournaments. In doubles play, the team is a combined 47-37 (.560).
• The Spartans finished the 2009 season ranked 70th in the nation, marking the eighth time in the past nine years that the team held an ITA postseason ranking, including their last seven years of Division II play.
• The 2009 Spartans tied an Atlantic Sun Conference record as six players earned All-A-Sun honors, including seniors Renzo Airaldi, Javier Tori and Jack Roux and sophomore Edgar Rodriguez.
• Seniors Javier Tori and Jack Roux are in a battle for Upstate's career singles record. Tori currently holds the mark with 58 wins, but Roux is right behind with 57.
• Senior Jack Roux set a school record with 46 combined wins during his junior season, as he posted a 22-9 record in singles play and a 24-6 mark in doubles action.
• Senior Javier Tori holds the schools career record for combined wins with 122, posting a 58-28 record in singles play and a 64-22 mark in doubles action.
• Head coach Alessandro De Marzo competed at the USTA National Team Championships for the second year in a row the week of Sept. 25. De Marzo captained a team to the Southern sections open championship in July.
