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Bloomsburg to Host PSAC Singles and Doubles Championships

BLOOMSBURG— The Bloomsburg University tennis teams will host the first annual Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Singles and Doubles Championships this weekend.

For the women, the Huskies go in as the PSAC team champions and will have five players in the event. In the doubles draw, senior Julianne Bramante (Endwell, NY/Union-Endicott) and Lindsey Wyckoff (North Canton, OH/Hoover) will be representing Bloomsburg. The Huskies will play the third seed from Shippensburg in Lina Pavilionyte and Jenn Longmire in the first round. The number one seed, Ashley Michaux and Jesse Bungo from Slippery Rock are seeded first, while Yvonne Niederbracht and Jackie Kulp of Indiana (PA) are the number two seed. In the fall, Bungo and Michaux won the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) East Regional Tournament over Pavilionyte and Longmire and are currently ranked ninth in the nation in Division II, while the Shippensburg duo is 24th in the country.

In the singles draw, Bungo also grabbed the number one seed after going undefeated in conference play. In ITA rankings, Bungo is currently ranked 20th, while Pavilionyte, the fourth seed in the tournament is ranked 30th. Bungo will have a bye in the first round and will meet either Emily Murphy (Montgomery/Methacton) of Bloomsburg or Morgan Burdette of Millersville in the next round. IUP's Niederbracht is seeded second in the singles draw going into the tournament with a record of 18-1. Following a bye, she will face Shannon Rhodes of East Stroudsburg or Beth Colarusso of West Chester in the second round. Bloomsburg's Iida Hokkanen (Helsinki, Finland) got the third seed in the draw and will face Katie Opilo of Millersville or Shippensburg's Longmire in the second round. Hokkanen is currently ranked 39th in Division II and has a record of 13-10 on the season. The Rock's Michaux is also seeded in the singles draw at five, while Kerstin Kloeffer is seeded sixth. California's Linda Escobedo is the seventh seed in the tournament, while IUP's Kulp nabbed the eighth and final seed of the draw.

Also playing in the singles draw for Bloomsburg will be Brande Hansteen (Wyncote/Cheltenham). Hansteen, 13-9 on the season, will play Kutztown's Priya Pacakawde in the first round.

For the men, PSAC champion Kutztown grabbed the number one seed in the doubles in Aloke Bhide and Mukundan Nandakumar. The team comes into the tournament with a record of 11-4 and are ranked 25th in the country by the ITA. Bloomsburg's Brian Bogus (Conroe, TX/Oak Ridge) and Kurt Caster (Williamsport/Williamsport), 13-4, are seeded second and will play the winner of third-seeded Greg Bennett and Brandon Kessler of Millersville and Slippery Rock's Ryan Steeh and Rick Moore. East Stroudsburg's Luchowski and Peticca, the fourth seed, while play West Chester's McCaffrey and Orr in the first round.

In the singles draw, Bloomsburg's Mike McGrath (Media/Penncrest) is seeded number one and will open up the tournament against East Stroudsburg's Luchowski. Nandakamur is seeded second in the draw and will play East Stroudsburg's Derek Tomasino in the first round, while third-seeded, Kutztown's Bhide, will open up with Kessler of Millersville. The Huskies' Aleks Kalezic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) nabbed the number four seed and will play Kessler in the first round, as fifth-seeded, Bennett of Millersville, will open up against West Chester's Stevenson. Annamalai of Kutztown and Keith McCaffrey of West Chester are seeded sixth and seventh, respectively, while eighth-seeded Travis Martin of East Stroudsburg will play Steeh of Slippery Rock.

Also competing in the men's singles for Bloomsburg will be senior Brendan Miller (New Providence/Lampeter-Strasburg). Miller will play sixth-seeded Annamalai in the first round.

The tournament will begin on Friday, April 30, at 11:00 a.m. with two rounds of men's and women's doubles. The first round of singles will begin on Friday at 1:30 p.m. for the women and 2:45 for the men. The second round of singles will begin at 4:00 p.m. for the women and 5:15 for the men, and the women's singles matches will continue at 6:45 p.m.

On Saturday, the day will start off with doubles at 9:00 a.m. and will directly followed by the championship matches at 10:30 a.m. The singles semifinals will begin at 10:30 a.m., while singles will start at 12:30 p.m.