Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Salukis to play in ITA All-American
10/02/2015 | 12:00:00 | Men's Tennis
By Tony McDaniel
SIUSalukis.com
TULSA, Okla. – SIU is on the road again this weekend, this time for the 2015 St. Francis Health System ITA All-American, a tournament that will likely be SIU's toughest challenge of the fall season.
Last week, the Salukis took the Purdue Fall Invitational by storm, winning 26 of their 32 matches on the way to three flight championships. Each Saluki at the tournament finished with a winning record.
This weekend, Southern is in for a much larger challenge. The ITA All-American is one of the fall's premier tennis tournaments. SIU will face players from some of the nation's top teams including Notre Dame, Stanford, Tennessee and Florida State.
SIU will only take three players to this weekend's event. Senior Jonny Rigby and juniors Michal Kianicka and Wilder Pimentel are all entered into the tournament's pre-qualifying draw. This will be Rigby's third appearance at the ITA All-American.
"We had a good tournament last week, so we want to keep that going into this tournament," coach Dann Nelson said. "We know this is a very, very tough tournament, but I think we've prepared well. We competed well last weekend, so we're confident going into this tournament."
The structure of the ITA All-American makes for a grueling event. SIU's three athletes are all entered into the pre-qualifying draw, which includes more than 250 players including athletes from the Big Ten, SEC and Pac-12 conferences. Missouri Valley Conference foes, Drake, Wichita State and Illinois State also have players in the pre-qualifying draw.
Success in the pre-qualifier can earn the Salukis a berth in the qualifying draw. Winning in the qualifying draw can place the Salukis in the Main Draw, which begins on Oct. 8. The singles finals will be played on Oct. 12.
Quarterfinalists from the singles draw and consolation bracket champions all receive automatic berths at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships on Nov. 12 in Flushing Meadows, NY.
The tournament draws are based on last year's national rankings. Usually the doubles team of Kianicka and Rigby would be ranked high enough to earn a place in the doubles draw, however the duo did not play together in the spring season last year and did not receive an invitation.
"We have to focus on singles for this tournament and do the best we can," Nelson said. "Hopefully we survive and advance."
This is the 11th consecutive year the University of Tulsa has hosted the ITA All-American. The majority of the matches will be played at Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Last year, Jonny Rigby was the most successful Saluki at the ITA All-American; he reached the third round of the pre-qualifier by defeating players from Loyola Marymount and Austin Peay.
Live video from each match will be streamed on Tulsahurricane.com and the ITA will update brackets on its website throughout the tournament.
"I'm excited for these guys to get the opportunity to play this tournament," Nelson said. "I feel like they deserve it and I'm excited to see what they can do."
