NCTTA Newsletter
February 2012

It's an exciting time of the college table tennis season. Division play has recently wrapped up, the Regional Championship season is in full swing, the 2012 Championships are right around the corner. Plus we're already reviewing the proposals for 2013 Championship sites.

Read on for all this and more ...

2013 Championships Attract Eight Potential Hosts
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

Eight USA cities are making bids to get the right to host the NCTTA’s 2013 championships.
Turning in proposals prior to the February 1 deadline, the total of cities seeking to host the games sets a new record, says NCTTA President Willy Leparulo. “We are thrilled at the response. We are delighted we are attracting so much interest from across the nation. We thank all who turned in proposals.”

While table tennis fans are gearing up for the 2012 Championships in April in Plano, Texas, NCTTA leaders will soon be getting feedback from its membership on the new list of 2013 bidders. We want to hear your responses after you study the proposals on the NCTTA website. The plans submitted recently tell us everything about venue lighting, table tennis seating, volunteers, area hotels, transportation, restaurants, a city’s cultural attractions and other amenities.

With a varied selection of sites that stretch all the way from New Mexico to Florida and up to Midwest states like Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois, there’s certainly a lot to consider. Throw in Pennyslvania Dutch Country making its pitch in the East and an appeal coming from the heartland in Tulsa, Oklahoma and you end up with a full slate of options.

Read more ...

Central Florida Knights Wins Florida Division Title
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

The University of Central Florida Knights brought home the gold in their recent division competition in the Sunshine State. Just days before presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich slugged it out in a key Tuesday primary, the Central Florida team showed off its awesome table tennis skills to knock off South Florida, and the Miami Hurricanes.

Going into the spring competition on January 28th, table tennis fans really didn’t know who would finish atop the division that Saturday. Fans felt uncertain about the outcome considering Miami squeezed out a fall division win by two games, says Michael McFarland, the NCTTA’s Florida Division Director.

For the record, Central Florida finished first at the late January tournament followed by 2nd place South Florida narrowly topping Miami. It took a heated doubles match win by South Florida to give them the victory over the third-place Canes.

The NCTTA’s first ever singles division action was just as competitive that day in sunny Florida. Walter Alomar of the University of Puerto Rico brought his A-game to the table and finished the overall winner. AJ Scarp of Central Florida made it close, but ended up in second place.

Sponsor Corner
Special thanks to our sponsors, Butterfly and Newgy!

NCTTA, would like to thank Butterfly for its support of college table tennis. Butterfly is the exclusive NCTTA League and Championship Equipment sponsor for the 2011-2012 season. Grab all your favorite Butterfly equipment in the online Butterfly store.

Also, special thanks to NEWGY Industries, for its continued support of college table tennis Newgy offers a great way to fundraise for your club and help out our sponsor as well by signing up and participating in their Newgy Robo Pong Affiliate Program.

N.C. State Captures Carolina Division Crown
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

North Carolina State’s table tennis team walked away with the Carolina Division title after knocking off a trio of rivals, including the Duke Blue Devils. At the NCTTA divisional competition, the Wolfpack’s talented lineup of Scott James, Christian Perea, Lionel Edwin and Yinglong Guan proved too much for all opposing teams coming to Duke’s campus on February 4.

In terms of NC State athletics, it was a terrific Saturday. On the same day, NC State’s basketball team whipped the Wake Forest Deacons by an 87-76 margin on the hardwood. The NC State victory on the table tennis courts was just as decisive as the school’s hoops triumph in the rugged Atlantic Coast Conference.

Things got started, when NC State paddled Cristopher Newport University by a count of 3 games to 1. By the same 3-1 margin, NC State defeated a Duke lineup of Nicholas Enz, Abu Sufian, Sunny Sun and Alex Zhu. Duke and NC State are pretty familiar rivals. Duke was swept by NC State in the previous Carolina divisional tournament in the fall.

Win or lose, all the teams came to the Duke campus ready to play. Cristopher Newport University brought a good bunch, including Ryan Gibson, Bret Marfut, Sean Meslar and Ben Howard. “What a day,” says Bishal, the Carolina division director. “All the players have greatly improved from the fall.”

Penn State Wins Atlantic Division
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

We are … Penn State! That’s the rallying cry after the Nittany Lions table tennis team raced to victory in the NCTTA’s Atlantic Division tournament on the University Park campus.

“In teams competition, Penn State was the number one seed and they proved their dominance throughout and won comfortably,” said division director Asif ud-Doula. PSU standout Marcus Jackson led the way on February 4 and didn’t lose a game.

The University of Pennsylvania finished second during team competition in the White Building, a gym-like room that’s often used for dancing on the campus in Central Pennsylvania. Other teams competing that Saturday included St. Francis University, Penn State’s Scranton campus and Drexel University that all put their coed teams to the test. In addition, newcomer Bryn Mawr College had a women’s team that competed.

Read more ...

Florida Gators Win Panhandle Division
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

At NCTTA headquarters, we know that's great advice after the University of Florida table tennis punished all its foes in the Panhandle Division tournament on its home turf on the Gainesville campus. The newly revamped Panhandle Division spans portions of the Sunshine State and the neighboring Peach State of Georgia.

“We came, we saw and we conquered should be the University of Florida's mantra,” says NCTTA President Willy Leparulo, who wears another hat as the Panhandle Division Director.
The Gators exited the Panhandle Division tournament with two crowns in February after finishing on top in the team and singles events led by impressive performances from senior Dashieo Neimark. His huge forehand loop was stunning, fans say.

Read more ...

Ohio State Buckeyes Reign in Divisional Play
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

Ohio State’s table tennis team is generating plenty of buzz on the Columbus campus after its February triumph in the Ohio Division to advance to Great Lakes regional championship.

Ohio State’s coed team finished with a sparkling 5-0 record, and the women’s team was 2-1 to advance to the regionals. Ohio State was the heavy favorite going in based on its strong showing in the fall to climb to No. 1 in the division.

Two of the three Ohio State men moved up to the regionals in singles play. Keith Pech from Baldwin-Wallace College in Ohio stepped up his game and won in singles competition. OSU women were also successful with their singles game play.

One of the big disappointments in the Ohio Division was the fact that three schools, Akron, the College of Wooster and Oberlin College didn’t participate in the February event. NCTTA officials hope the trio of teams returns in the fall of 2012. With three teams sitting it out, the Ohio Division was happy to welcome a new school on board. That would be the University of West Virginia at Parkersburg.

“They brought an awesome attitude to the tournament,” said Ohio Division Director Eric Frantz. The West Virginia visitors played well and the team paddled their way to a 3-2 record. And a winning record is not bad for their first NCTTA tournament after joining the Ohio Division this winter.

Virginia Tech Wins 6th Straight Virginia Division Title

Plenty went wrong even before the action got started, but Virginia Tech did all the right things in February to emerge as the divisional champions.

The trouble started on the road the day before the NCTTA tournament. The bad news was that Abrahm Benham’s car broke down and was towed. Benham happens to be the director of the NCTTA’s Virginia Division. It only gets worse. There was no internet at the Virginia tournament and officials had to locate another computer to download information. One more thing. The printer ink ran out before the last round of team matches were over.

Despite all that, the Virginia teams played great table tennis. The University of Virginia’s team finished in 2nd place. But fans were delighted to see a new star emerge. That would be Virginia Commonwealth University’s freshman Tao Li. Her powerful 2360 rating is the best in the division. She overpowered all of her opponents. There are lots of good things happening at VCU in the heart of Richmond.

With their new star, young team and terrific facilities (the team just acquired six new tables to bring their total to a dozen), VCU looks like a rising force in the division for years to come, Behnam says.

Others competing in the division included James Madison University in Harrisonburg, and Fork Union Military Academy. Fans who missed the games can check out the photo gallery online.

Got an idea for a future story or newsletter topic? Email the NCTTA Media Relations Chair.