CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Three members of the Virginia men's tennis team earned NCAA Individual Championships qualifications on Saturday (Nov. 7) at the ITA East Sectional Championships at the Virginia Tennis Facility at the Boar’s Head Resort in Charlottesville, Va.
Jangjun Kim earned an invitation to compete in the NCAA Singles Championship with his semifinal finish at the tournament. Luca Preda and Stiles Brockett earned a place in the NCAA Doubles Championship with a victory in Saturday's semifinal match against the tournament's top seed.
The ITA Sectionals were the final opportunity for players to qualify for the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. The four singles semifinalists from the 32-player draw and two quarterfinal playoff winners advance to the NCAA Championships. The two doubles finalists from the 16-team draw plus the third/fourth place playoff winner will earn invitations to the NCAA Championships.
Kim was the No. 2 seed in the singles draw. He won all three of his matches at the Sectional in straight sets. Brockett and Ty Switzer also competed in the singles draw.
Preda and Brockett won a thrilling 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 semifinal against Paul Barbier Gazeu and Charlie Robertson to cap their Sectional run. Roy Horovitz and Stefan Regalia also competed in doubles.
The NCAA Individual Championships are being held Nov. 17-22 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.
This will be Kim's second time competing at NCAA Singles and Preda and Brockett's first NCAA Doubles tournament.
Virginia will have four players in the singles draw, as Preda, Keegan Rice and Andres Santamarta Roig had previously qualified and two in doubles, with Preda and Brockett joining Kim and Santamarta Roig in the doubles draw.