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NCTTA Newsletter Just because the Fall portion of the competition season is winding down, doesn't mean a break from college table tennis. We've got all your updates from divisional play, plus the Rockstar Wii Table Tennis tour winners, the Killerspin Holiday Open, and even looking forward to the 2009 Championships with the host bidding process now open.
Killerspin Holiday Open
Sponsor Affiliate Programs Join the Table Tennis Pioneers affiliate program. It's easy to setup and then your club gets a commission (up to 10%),
for any sales generated through your site. Encourage members of your club and all your friends to use it. Earn commissions on top of the already generous NCTTA discounts. No risk, so it's practically a no-brainer.
Rockstar Games College Tour Results 2009 Championships
Division Results Dixie DivisionWhat a difference a year can make! Last year in the Dixie Division, the University of Southern Mississippi went undefeated and earned themselves a Championship bid. Despite returning much of their roster from last year’s team, the Dixie Division has played out a little differently so far this year. Playing on their home floor, Southern Miss. edged Mississippi State 3-2, but then lost to the University of New Orleans as well as newcomer Mississippi College, who turned in a strong NCTTA debut. Mississippi College could have secured control of first place in the division with a win over Mississippi State, but couldn’t pull it out, losing 11-9 in the fifth game of the doubles. By virtue of the head-to-head win, Mississippi State sits in first place at 4-1 with Mississippi College in second with an identical record. Southern Miss, West Florida, New Orleans and Alabama (in that order) round out current standings on the men’s/coed side.Upstate New York DivisionWith 3 teams in the Pre-Season Top 25 (No. 4 Toronto, No. 8 Cornell and No. 17 RPI), the Upstate NY Division figured to be especially competitive; it didn’t disappoint. Perennial overachievers, RPI, who despite being seeded near the bottom of the field, finished 4th at the 2006 Championships and 8th the 2007 Championships were looking to work some of their Championship magic during the regular season. RPI narrowly lost a nail-biter in doubles against undefeated Cornell (7-0), seeming to leave them as the second place team in the 8 team division, with a good chance at a third straight Championship bid. But a failed eligibility check and the resulting defaults dropped RPI to fourth (tied with Toronto and Rochester Institute of Technology, RIT). SUNY Buffalo instead sits in second at 6-1, with Ottawa a distant third at 4-3.In women’s competition, 5th-ranked Cornell edged 2nd-ranked Toronto, 3-2, even though the Toronto team had only three players and had to default two matches. Toronto’s three were good enough to defeat both RPI and RIT to land in second place. Sets up an interesting match-up for the Spring, assuming Toronto can field a full women’s team. Be sure to check out the photos from the meet. Ohio DivisionWith Ohio State’s number two player Michael Yao out with injury, would the tenth-ranked Buckeyes still be the team to beat in the Ohio Division’s southern sub-division? With their ace Francois Charvet, who’s compiled and impressive 30-1 regular season record since 2004-2005, and the timely arrival of promising freshman Dalun Tang, the answer seems to be yes. Ohio State defeated second place Marshall in convincing fashion, 5-0. In the Spring teams from both Ohio sub-divisions will come together to crown the division champion. With traditional rivals Michigan and Ohio State sitting at the top of their respective sub-divisions and an automatic berth to the Championships at stake, expect some fierce competition still to come in Ohio.New York City DivisionWith junior stand-out Judy Hugh in her rookie season at Rutgers this year, the Scarlet Knights were looking to give last year’s division winner and pre-season No. 15 Columbia a run for the division title. Coming off of a great performance at last year’s Championships (they finished 5th), Columbia looked like they might have their hands full early on, with the match tied 1-1 against NYU. Michelle Yang and David Loeffler managed to hang on with victories in the 3rd and 4th matches for Columbia, but a much improved NYU team (with two women on the roster) was definitely the surprise of the New York City Division. With both teams at 8-0, it came to the deciding Columbia-Rutgers match. Judy Hugh proved too much for Victor Leung (3-0), but the remaining singles matches all went 5 games, with Columbia managing to win all 3 to secure the victory: Columbia’s Felix Yu came back from a 0-2 deficit to edge Ben Huang, Michelle Yang defeated Adam Formal winning at deuce in the 4th and 5th games, and David Loeffler overcame Wing Sit. Even with the team outcome already determined, the doubles match too came down to the wire, with the Rutgers pair of Hugh and Formal coming through at 12-10 in the fifth. Rutgers is probably already preparing for the Spring rematch, although with 10 teams in the division, both Rutgers and Columbia have a good chance of qualifying for Nationals.A record 5 women’s teams turned out to compete at the Fashion Institute of Technology, with new teams Polytechnic and Cooper Union joining the returning women’s teams from NYU, Stonybrook, and Columbia. A relatively convincing 4-1 victory over defending division champion NYU, leaves Columbia’s women’s team in command of the division. Georgia DivisionSeveral rookie teams joined the Georgia division, with 10 teams competing in Atlanta. As we’ve seen in other divisions this season, rookie teams are not to be taken lightly. The Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech were impressive in their first NCTTA outing, not dropping a singles match the entire day. Team captain Aneece Khalec, fresh off a Junior Olympics Doubles Championship, had his team ready to play, “the tournament went very well and the playing conditions were great.” Somehow the conditions are always better when your team is winning. With 4 players rated over 2000, Georgia Tech isn’t likely to stay unranked come the Spring semester.The Georgia Tech men weren’t the only ones serving notice as the team to beat, the rookie Lady Jackets also turned in an impressive performance, although their victories weren’t quite as convincing as the men’s team’s. Still, with the division in the balance and Georgia Tech tied with the defending Division Champion Auburn Lady Tigers at 2-2 after singles, the match came down to doubles. Tied at 8-all in the 5th, Georgia Tech reeled off 3 straight points to earn the victory. No first meet jitters for these women. Auburn went on to finish second with the University of Georgia women in third. Happy Holidays |
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NCTTA Newsletter - December 2007 Our mailing address is: NCTTA 2322 5th Street #204 Santa Monica, CA 90405 Our website: www.nctta.org Copyright (C) 2007 National Collegiate Table Tennis Association. All rights reserved. |
