New York’s Elbaba Ranked Number One in ITA National Rankings

January 6, 2015 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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University of  Virginia junior Julia Elbaba from Oyster Bay, N.Y. is the number one ranked player in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Division I Women's National Singles Rankings and University of Louisville senior Sebastian Stiefelmeyer is the top-ranked man in the ITA Division I Men's National Singles Rankings. Both players won national singles championships in the fall; Stiefelmeyer won the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships in September, while Elbaba won the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in November.
 
Stiefelmeyer began the 2013-14 season as the No. 110 player in the ITA Division I Men's Preseason Rankings before rising to number one with a 17-2 fall record. Elbaba advanced to the top spot from number five in the ITA Division I Women's Preseason Rankings.
 
Joining Elbaba in the top five are two players from UCLA; Robin Anderson is ranked number two and Chanelle Van Nguyen is number three. Stanford's Carol Zhao is ranked number four and California's Maegan Manasse checks in at nunber five. The 2013-14 ITA National Player of the Year, Jamie Loeb of North Carolina, is ranked number eight.
 
Trailing Stiefelmeyer in the men's top five are North Carolina's Brayden Schnur at number two, USC's Yannick Hanfmann at number three, Virginia's Thai-Son Kwiatkowski at number four and Baylor's Julian Lenz at number five. Schnur, who began the season ranked seventh in the ITA Division I Preseason Rankings, rose to number two after winning the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships singles title in November.
 
UCLA's Catherine Harrison & Kyle McPhillips are atop the ITA Division I Women's National Doubles Rankings. The Bruins defeated the number two and number three ranked doubles teams en route to winning the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in November.   
 
On the men's side, USC's Yannick Hanfmann & Roberto Quiroz are ranked number one in the ITA Division I Men's National Doubles Rankings. Hanfmann & Quiroz also won the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in November, and they placed second in the Saint Francis Health System ITA Men's All-American Championships in September.
 
The reigning NCAA Champion UCLA Bruins top the ITA Division I National Women's Team Rankings, while the reigning men's NCAA Champion USC Trojans lead the ITA Division I National Men's Team Rankings, released today by the ITA.
 
UCLA returns six singles starters from a lineup that defeated North Carolina in the NCAA Division I Championship match in May, 4-3. Ranked second behind UCLA are the Duke Blue Devils, who return four singles starters from a 2013-14 roster that wonthe ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoors Championship in February. UCLA and Duke squaredoff twice last season and split the two matches. In February, Duke rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championships finals to win the title 4-3, while UCLA avenged the loss in May by beating the Blue Devils 4-2 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships.
 
On the men's side, the USC Trojans are the top-ranked team in the ITA Division I National Men's Team Rankings. Like their crosstown rivals on the women's side, USC won the NCAA Championships in May, doing so for the fifth time in six seasons. USC returns five starting singles players and two starting doubles teams from last season.
 
Trailing USC in the ITA Division I National Men's Team Rankings are the number two Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners finished as runners-up to USC in the NCAA Championships in May, and the program achieved its first ever number one team ranking last season. Oklahoma returns four of six singles starters from last season but must replace former first-singles player Guillermo Alcorta, who finished number three in the ITA Singles Rankings last year. 
 
Several freshmen caught the attention of the college tennis world during the fall and made their way into the Top 30 entering the spring season.  
 
Florida freshman Brooke Austin made the biggest impression of all freshman. Semifinal finishes at both fall national tournaments propelled Austin to the number six overall ranking. Austin was the number one ranked player in the 2014-15 Division I Preseason Women's Newcomer/Freshman Rankings.
 
Austin's teammate Josie Kuhlman also cracked the Top 10 after posting an 18-4 fall record. Kuhlman is ranked ninth. California's Karla Popovic is the third Top 30 freshman, checking in at number 30.
 
On the men's side, number 18 Nicolas Alvarez of Duke, number 23 Andrew Watson of Memphis, number 24 Cameron Norrie of TCU and number 25 Tom Fawcett of Stanford are the highest ranked freshmen. Alvarez was the eighth ranked player and Norrie was number three in the 2014-15 Division I Preseason Men's Newcomer/Freshman Rankings. 
 
Several players on the men's and women's side made noteworthy leaps up the ITA National Singles Rankings this fall. Louisville's Sebastian Stiefelmeyer climbed 109 spots from 110th, all the way to number one, while Virginia's Thai-Son Kwiatkowski improved 76 spots in going from number 80 to fourth. Tulane's Dominik Koepfer improved 89 spots into the Top 10 at number nine. Koepfer entered the fall ranked 98th.
 
On the women's side, Maegan Manasse of California made the biggest leap by rising 38 spots from 43rd to fifth. Manasse started her fall with an upset win over preseason number one Jamie Loeb in the Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships in September. Manasse continued her surge by reaching the final of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in November. Other big risers include Oklahoma State's Viktoriya Lushkova, who jumped from No. 26 in the preseason to No. 10 and Vanderbilt's Sydney Campbell improved from No. 50 to No. 15.

New York Tennis Magazine Staff
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