UCLA victorious over Florida.
© USTA
The USTA announced that UCLA defeated the University of Florida 30-19 in Saturday’s championship match at the 2011 USTA National Campus Championship at the Cary Tennis Park. This was the 1st national title for the Bruins squad and their 7th appearance at the National Campus Championship.
With heavy rain delaying the start of the Championship match, teams and spectators were relocated to the indoor tennis courts at nearby Duke University. The men took to the court first as UCLA’s powerhouse doubles team edged out a victory over Florida with a score of 6-4. UCLA’s men’s singles player Michael Hul continued the team’s dominant run by defeating the Gator’s Kevin Runda, 6-2.
The University of Florida women’s doubles team gave UCLA a run for their money with several clutch shots by Jodi Kleiner who managed to put her team within striking distance. The powerful serve of Victoria Wing from UCLA however, was too much to handle as she delivered three aces to secure the win for her team, 6-3.
At the end of Women’s Singles the mighty Bruins led by a score of 26-14 heading into mixed doubles. The Gator’s, knowing they had a tough road to victory ahead of them, pulled out all the stops and captured the set 6-5 forcing an overtime. However, the lead amassed by UCLA earlier in the match was too great of a mountain to climb as they fought back to claim the Championship title in overtime.
Special guest and Tennis great Katrina Adams was on hand as the official Event Emcee.
Championship Match: UCLA d. the University of Florida, 30-19
Men’s Doubles: UCLA d. Florida, 6-4
Men’s Singles: UCLA d. Florida, 6-2
Women’s Doubles: UCLA d. Florida, 6-3
Women’s Singles: UCLA d. Florida, 6-3
Mixed Doubles: Florida d. UCLA, 6-5
Overtime Mixed Doubles: UCLA d. Florida, 1-1
Note: A match using the World TeamTennis format includes sets of men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles and mixed doubles, each game during the match counts as a point towards the overall team score.
Past USTA National Campus Champions (Runner-Up) – Site
2010 – University of California - Berkeley – (University of Florida) – Surprise, AZ
2009 - Duke University- (University of Wisconsin – Madison) – Surprise, AZ
2008 - University of Texas (California-Berkley) – Cary, N.C.
2007 - Texas A&M University (University of Virginia) - Cary, N.C.
2006 - Texas A&M University (University of Virginia) - Austin, Texas
2005 - Texas A&M University (University of Texas) - San Diego, Calif.
2004 - Texas A&M University (University of Virginia) - Daytona Beach, Fla.
2003 - University of Florida (Texas A&M University) - Daytona Beach, Fla.
2002 - Texas A&M University (University of Texas) - Austin, Texas
2001 - University of North Carolina (University of Texas) - Austin, Texas
2000 - University of North Carolina (University of Texas) - Austin, Texas
The championship opened on Thursday with 16 four-team pools, with schools advancing to bracket play on Friday and Saturday. The first-place teams from each of the 16 pools advance to one bracket (that determines the overall champion), the second-place teams from the pools advance to another bracket, the third place teams advance to a third bracket and the fourth place-teams to a fourth bracket.