CSUN to Play Stetson in Quarterfinals of Universal Tennis NIT
5/10/2023 3:43:00 PM | Women's Tennis
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.— Universal Tennis announced that CSUN will face Stetson in the inaugural Universal Tennis National Invitational Tennis Championship (NIT Championship) quarterfinals on Wednesday, May 17. The first serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT/10 a.m. PDT.
The University Tennis NIT Championship will be conducted from May 17-20 at the Peachtree City Tennis Center in Peachtree City, Ga., just outside of Atlanta. Amazon Prime will stream the tournament and be available to regular Prime subscribers at no additional cost.
Stetson is the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The Hatters are coming off a season where they were 18-8 and 6-2 in the ASUN. The Hatters were the No. 2 seed in the ASUN Championship before losing to North Florida in the finals.
Stetson defeated CSUN 4-3 on Mar. 8, 2013, in the only previous meeting between the two clubs. The winner of the CSUN-Stetson dual will face the winner of the dual between No. 2 seed Colorado (12-12) and fellow Big West member Cal Poly (14-9).
The other side of the bracket features the No. 1 seed, TCU, facing Big West member UC San Diego (10-13) and Appalachian State (13-8), the No. 4 seed facing Wyoming (14-10).
TCU (No. 47), Colorado (No. 62), and Wyoming (No. 70) are all ranked in the current ITA Top 75.
The Matadors went 17-6, the most dual wins for the program since 2011, when CSUN won 16 (16-6). CSUN defeated three teams (Boston U, Fordham, and Youngstown State) that won their respective conferences and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The Matadors ended 2023 with a 6-3 league record, the most victories for the Matadors in Big West play since 2008, when CSUN went 6-2 in conference play. CSUN defeated UC Santa Barbara twice, the 2022 Big West Champions.
Four CSUN women's tennis players were selected All-Big West Conference, as announced by the conference on May 4.
Jolene Coetzee and Angela Ho were selected first-team All-Conference in doubles. Playing exclusively at No. 1, Coetzee and Ho went 12-5 for the Matadors during the Spring. Counting Fall Tournament play, Coetzee and Ho are 18-7. Coetzee and Ho are the first CSUN doubles team to earn first-team All-Conference honors since 2016 (Mickey Hsu/Kristen Poei).
The pair entered the Division I ITA Collegiate Tennis National Rankings sponsored by Tennis-Point in doubles this past week at No. 89.
Yuliia Zhytelna and Sasha Turchak were both named second-team All-Conference in singles. Playing primarily at No. 3, Zhytelna recorded a team-high 15 singles victories (15-4). Turchak served as the Matadors' No. 2 player for most of the season. She went 12-7.
Coetzee was selected honorable mention All-Conference in singles for the second time in her career. The No. 1 CSUN player, Coetzee went 7-12.
Finally, Zhytelna and Turchak were named honorable mention All-Conference in doubles. The duo played together in 22 matches at No. 2, posting a 14-8 record.
Coetzee, Turchak, and Zhytelna were named to the 2023 Academic All-District® Women's Tennis Team, selected by College Sports Communicators on May 9.
CSUN is playing outside a conference tournament for the first time since 2001 when the Matadors, as Big Sky Conference champions, lost 4-1 to Fresno State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Once the tournament begins, match schedules and tournament brackets can be followed here.
The tournament format will be playoff knockout rounds with two matches guaranteed. First-round losers will get one extra match. All matches count toward Verified UTR Ratings.
Teams will play standard college dual matches, meaning each matchup will be three doubles sets (first to 6 games; the team that wins two sets wins the doubles point) followed by six singles matches (best two out of three sets; each match is worth one point). Play will stop when the dual match is clinched (a team reaches four points).
"We are thrilled to welcome these great teams to Georgia," said Chase Hodges, VP of Universal Tennis and former 15-time NAIA National Championship Coach. "Sixteen programs will compete for a national championship on Prime Video. Universal Tennis is proud to continue supporting and elevating the college tennis experience with a new world-class event."
The creation of the NIT Championship follows the launch of the Universal Tennis Collegiate Alliance ("UTCA"), which was created to support the future of all college programs in the United States. The UTCA Executive Committee voted unanimously to support the launch of the NIT Championship.
As a leader in college tennis, Universal Tennis has proven and established itself as the official technology and solution provider with the best and most proven rating and ranking, tournament and event technology, performance data, and analytics.
~#UniteTheValley~
The University Tennis NIT Championship will be conducted from May 17-20 at the Peachtree City Tennis Center in Peachtree City, Ga., just outside of Atlanta. Amazon Prime will stream the tournament and be available to regular Prime subscribers at no additional cost.
Stetson is the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The Hatters are coming off a season where they were 18-8 and 6-2 in the ASUN. The Hatters were the No. 2 seed in the ASUN Championship before losing to North Florida in the finals.
Stetson defeated CSUN 4-3 on Mar. 8, 2013, in the only previous meeting between the two clubs. The winner of the CSUN-Stetson dual will face the winner of the dual between No. 2 seed Colorado (12-12) and fellow Big West member Cal Poly (14-9).
The other side of the bracket features the No. 1 seed, TCU, facing Big West member UC San Diego (10-13) and Appalachian State (13-8), the No. 4 seed facing Wyoming (14-10).
TCU (No. 47), Colorado (No. 62), and Wyoming (No. 70) are all ranked in the current ITA Top 75.
The Matadors went 17-6, the most dual wins for the program since 2011, when CSUN won 16 (16-6). CSUN defeated three teams (Boston U, Fordham, and Youngstown State) that won their respective conferences and qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The Matadors ended 2023 with a 6-3 league record, the most victories for the Matadors in Big West play since 2008, when CSUN went 6-2 in conference play. CSUN defeated UC Santa Barbara twice, the 2022 Big West Champions.
Four CSUN women's tennis players were selected All-Big West Conference, as announced by the conference on May 4.
Jolene Coetzee and Angela Ho were selected first-team All-Conference in doubles. Playing exclusively at No. 1, Coetzee and Ho went 12-5 for the Matadors during the Spring. Counting Fall Tournament play, Coetzee and Ho are 18-7. Coetzee and Ho are the first CSUN doubles team to earn first-team All-Conference honors since 2016 (Mickey Hsu/Kristen Poei).
The pair entered the Division I ITA Collegiate Tennis National Rankings sponsored by Tennis-Point in doubles this past week at No. 89.
Yuliia Zhytelna and Sasha Turchak were both named second-team All-Conference in singles. Playing primarily at No. 3, Zhytelna recorded a team-high 15 singles victories (15-4). Turchak served as the Matadors' No. 2 player for most of the season. She went 12-7.
Coetzee was selected honorable mention All-Conference in singles for the second time in her career. The No. 1 CSUN player, Coetzee went 7-12.
Finally, Zhytelna and Turchak were named honorable mention All-Conference in doubles. The duo played together in 22 matches at No. 2, posting a 14-8 record.
Coetzee, Turchak, and Zhytelna were named to the 2023 Academic All-District® Women's Tennis Team, selected by College Sports Communicators on May 9.
CSUN is playing outside a conference tournament for the first time since 2001 when the Matadors, as Big Sky Conference champions, lost 4-1 to Fresno State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Once the tournament begins, match schedules and tournament brackets can be followed here.
The tournament format will be playoff knockout rounds with two matches guaranteed. First-round losers will get one extra match. All matches count toward Verified UTR Ratings.
Teams will play standard college dual matches, meaning each matchup will be three doubles sets (first to 6 games; the team that wins two sets wins the doubles point) followed by six singles matches (best two out of three sets; each match is worth one point). Play will stop when the dual match is clinched (a team reaches four points).
"We are thrilled to welcome these great teams to Georgia," said Chase Hodges, VP of Universal Tennis and former 15-time NAIA National Championship Coach. "Sixteen programs will compete for a national championship on Prime Video. Universal Tennis is proud to continue supporting and elevating the college tennis experience with a new world-class event."
The creation of the NIT Championship follows the launch of the Universal Tennis Collegiate Alliance ("UTCA"), which was created to support the future of all college programs in the United States. The UTCA Executive Committee voted unanimously to support the launch of the NIT Championship.
As a leader in college tennis, Universal Tennis has proven and established itself as the official technology and solution provider with the best and most proven rating and ranking, tournament and event technology, performance data, and analytics.
~#UniteTheValley~
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