Aug. 12, 2009
Columbia, Mo. - Over 25,000 men and women have competed in circuit events since it originated in 1993. The circuit is the brainchild of Indiana head women's tennis coach Lin Loring and provides college tennis players the opportunity to compete in organized events virtually year round. It is made up of seven regional circuits (East, Southeast, Midwest, Central, Mountain, Southwest and West) and each region consists of four consecutive tournaments played during the month of July, leading up to the ITA/USTA National Summer Championships, August 8-12.
The University of Missouri is a member of the ITA Central Region, and Mizzou's players participate in the circuit during the summer months. Following a summer of strong play, MU's Mallory Weber claimed the ITA point lead for the ITA Central Region. She won the Wichita State ITA singles title back in June, and reached the finals in doubles. Weber was also a singles and doubles finalist at the Kansas ITA a weekend later. She then had a very solid run in both singles and doubles at the ITA in St. Louis hosted by Washington University.
Claiming the ITA Central Region point lead, Weber earned a spot in the ITA Summer National Championships, held this past weekend at the University of Indiana. Having claimed the ITA Central Region Point lead, her expenses were paid by the ITA. At the Summer National Championships Weber won three rounds before falling in the quarterfinals to Tennessee's Natalie Pluskota, the tournament's eventual champion.
Teammate Jamie Mera, who hails from Florida, also had a busy summer and was among the point leaders in the Southeast Region, as she participated in most of the Florida ITA's. Mera had solid runs during her summer play, and won the backdraw of the ITA at the University of Florida.
The singles and doubles champions from the ITA/USTA National Summer Championships earn wild cards into the first national tournaments of the 2009-10 collegiate tennis season - the D'Novo Men's and Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships in early October.
The Tigers will begin their fall campaign in September.