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Baylor's Benedikt Dorsch and Miami's (Fla.) Megan Bradley have been named the 2005 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Players of the Year and Georgia's John Isner and Antonio Ruiz and Stanford's Alice Barnes and Erin Burdette are the ITA National Doubles Teams of the Year.
This year's award winners will be will be honored at the ITA All-Star Outing and Awards Luncheon, presented by the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, on August 26 at New York City's Central Park.
Baylor's Dorsch becomes only the second man to be named ITA National Player of the Year in consecutive years, joining Georgia's Matias Boeker (2001-02). Dorsch, a senior from Weiden, Germany, completed his career last week by capturing the NCAA singles title. On May 24 he led Baylor to its second straight NCAA final appearance and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player for the second straight year. Dorsch went 36-2 this season in singles and as also named Farnsworth/ITA National Senior Player of the Year. He reached four national singles finals (winning two titles) over the past three years and was ranked No. 1 in the ITA's national singles rankings in 14 of 26 ranking periods since January, 2003 (and ranked outside the top three just once).
Miami's Bradley turned in a 44-2 senior season highlighted by a 39-match win streak that lasted from October 8 until May 24. Bradley, a native of Columbia, Missouri, lost just three sets during the win streak. She was upset in the second round of last month's NCAA singles tournament, but finished the season at No. 1 in the ITA Rankings - a spot she held since March 8. She captured the singles title at the ITA National Indoor Championships in November and was also named ITA National Senior Player of the Year and Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year.
Georgia's Isner and Ruiz captured the NCAA doubles title last month and finished the season at No. 1 in the ITA's national doubles rankings. They are the second pair from UGA to receive this award, joining 2001 recipients Boeker and Travis Parrott. Isner and Ruiz went 34-6 this season, going 21-3 against ranked opponents and finishing with a 12-match win streak. Isner, who was also named ITA National Player to Watch, is a sophomore from Greensboro, N.C., and Ruiz is a junior from Monterrey, Mexico.
Stanford's Barnes and Burdette captured the NCAA women's doubles title last month and finished at No. 3 in the final ITA Rankings. Burdette, a senior from Jackson, Ga., received this award with Lauren Barnikow last year and this is the third time in four years that a Cardinal tandem has been named ITA National Doubles Team of the Year. Barnes, a junior from Cambridge, U.K., and Burdette finished the year with a 33-6 record, including an 18-2 mark in tournament play. They reached the final at the ITA National Indoor Championships in November and won the title at the Pac-10 Indoor Championships in January. They also helped Stanford win its second straight NCAA team title.
The ITA National Player of the Year and Doubles Team of the Year awards go annually to the individuals who have had the most outstanding years, as determined by the ITA's National Ranking and Tournament Committees.
The ITA All-Star Outing and Awards Luncheon, presented by the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, in August will also honor the 2005 ITA/Arthur Ashe Leadership and Sportsmanship Award winners (for Division I) and several of the top-ranked collegiate players from all ITA divisions in the ITA Rankings.
As the governing body of collegiate tennis the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which is based in Skillman, N.J., administers several national and regional championship events, the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit, presented by the USTA, and the ITA Rankings for men's and women's tennis at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship. The official ITA website is www.ITAtennis.com.
Past ITA National Players of the Year:
Men
1980 - Peter Rennert, Stanford
1981 - Tim Mayotte, Stanford
1982 - Marcel Freeman, UCLA
1983 - Greg Holmes, Utah
1984 - Paul Annacone, Tennessee
1985 - Mikael Pernfors, Georgia
1986 - Rick Leach, Southern California
1987 - Richey Reneberg, SMU
1988 - Robbie Weiss, Pepperdine
1989 - MaliVai Washington, Michigan
1990 - Steve Bryan, Texas
1991 - Al Parker, Georgia
1992 - Alex O'Brien, Stanford
1993 - Chris Woodruff, Tennessee
1994 - Mark Merklein, Florida
1995 - Sargis Sargsian, Arizona State
1996 - Cecil Mamiit, Southern California
1997 - Thomas Dupre, Mississippi State
1998 - Bob Bryan, Stanford
1999 - James Blake, Harvard
2000 - Alex Kim, Stanford
2001 - Matias Boeker, Georgia
2002 - Matias Boeker, Georgia
2003 - Amer Delic, Illinois
2004 - Benedikt Dorsch, Baylor
2005 - Benedikt Dorsch, Baylor
Women
1982 - Vicki Nelson, Rollins
1983 - Beth Herr, Southern California
1984 - Gretchen Rush, Trinity (Texas)
1985 - Gretchen Rush, Trinity (Texas)
1986 - Caroline Kuhlman, Southern California
1987 - Patty Fendick, Stanford
1988 - Halle Cioffi, Florida
1989 - Tami Whitlinger, Stanford
1990 - Debbie Graham, Stanford
1991 - Sandra Birch, Stanford
1992 - Lisa Raymond, Florida
1993 - Lisa Raymond, Florida
1994 - Angela Lettiere, Georgia
1995 - Keri Phebus, UCLA
1996 - Jill Craybas, Florida
1997 - Lilia Osterloh, Stanford
1998 - Vanessa Webb, Duke
1999 - Zuzana Lesenarova, San Diego
2000 - Laura Granville, Stanford
2001 - Laura Granville, Stanford
2002 - Bea Bielik, Wake Forest
2003 - Amber Liu, Stanford
2004 - Amber Liu, Stanford
2005 - Megan Bradley, Miami (Fla.)
Past ITA National Doubles Teams of the Year:
Men
2000 - Geoff Abrams and Alex Kim, Stanford
2001 - Matias Boeker and Travis Parrott, Georgia
2002 - Andrew Colombo and Marc Kovacs, Auburn
2003 - Richard Barker and William Barker, Rice
2004 - Richard Barker and William Barker, Rice
2005 - John Isner and Antonio Ruiz, Georgia
Women
2000 - Claire Curran and Amy Jensen, California
2001 - Whitney Laiho and Jessica Lehnhoff, Florida
2002 - Lauren Kalvaria and Gabriela Lastra, Stanford
2003 - Christina Fusano and Raquel Kops-Jones, California
2004 - Lauren Barnikow and Erin Burdette, Stanford
2005 - Alice Barnes and Erin Burdette, Stanford
