NCTTA Newsletter
March 2011

With the 2010-2011 regular season coming to a close and the 2011 Championships right around the corner, we've got lots of news this month. We've got recaps of spring competition from around the league, the list of Championships qualifiers is announced, and a great story about the Minnesota HS state champs.

Read on for all this and more ...

2011 Championships Qualifiers Announced

After months of competition, we finally have our field for the 2011 College Table Tennis Championships. That's right, the 24 best men's/coed and 16 best women's teams that have qualified for the main event April 15-17. It may be the strongest Championships field ever, and wildcard spots were especially tough to come by this season. Here's the list:

Minnesota Hosts 5th Annual HS State Championships
By Nancy Chen, Media Relations Committee

With the national championships approaching and college admissions decisions beginning to turn up, it’s time to start thinking about who will form the next generation of college table tennis stars.

Although there isn’t a national league for high school table tennis yet, some states have started organizing high school state championships, which are bringing together some of the top youth players in the state. One of the largest such events in the country is the Minnesota State High School Team Championships.

Initially an outgrowth of the interest of a handful of high school coaches and parents, the 2006 inaugural event had only 3 teams. With a record of seventeen co-ed teams and six girls’ teams from Minneapolis, Duluth, and Rochester participating, it’s fair to say the event has grown tremendously in its five year history.

This growth in high school table tennis involvement is encouraging on multiple levels, says Table Tennis Minnesota director Mitchell Seidenfeld.

Read more ...

Princeton Prevails in Tough Mid-Atlantic Division
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

Princeton (12-1) emerged from one of the toughest divisions in college table tennis to capture their 6th straight Mid-Atlantic Division title. With teams like No. 9 Maryland (11-2) and No. 17 Penn State (9-4) as division opponents, the Princeton Tigers accomplishments are even more remarkable.

After Princeton’s multi-time collegiate singles runner-up Adam Hugh moved on last season, few expected the team to continue its division dominance. But with a squad of outstanding players like Amaresh Sahu, Alden Fan, Tommy An, and Gabe Reder, and a No. 7 ranking Princeton proved too much for its division rivals.

Still, things weren’t quite as easy as past seasons. Princeton dropped a team contest to Maryland, 3-1 in the fall, but stormed back to go undefeated in spring competition, upending the division runner-up 4-0 in the rematch.

At the Mid-Atlantic competition directed by George Che, there were hotly contested matches throughout the day, including Maryland-Penn State. Penn State was led by Nittany Lion standouts Marcus Jackson and Alex Weiner, while Raghu Nadmichettu was solid for the Maryland Terps. Though Penn State prevailed 3-2 in that one, Maryland had the slightly better record for the season and earned a wildcard spot to the Championships.

On the women’s side, Drexel was the division winner and now heads to Minnesota for the national championships April 15-17. A couple of newcomers also showed up for the Mid-Atlantic competition: Rider of New Jersey and PSU Worthington Scranton.

Ottawa Captures Eastern Canada Division
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

Opponents of the University of Ottawa Table Tennis team are usually in double trouble.
That was the case again at the Eastern Canada regional tourney. Ottawa’s team is led by twin sisters Sara Yuen and Stephanie Yuen and they proved too much for their rivals. The sisters once played on the Canadian National Team. They’re blessed with talent and it showed.

The 3rd-ranked Ottawa squad had a hard fought battle with No. 8 Western Ontario, narrowly winning 11-9 in the 5th game of the doubles match. Despite the loss, Western Ontario still managed to qualify for a Championships wildcard spot by virtue of their team ranking.

On the women’s side, it was the University of Waterloo besting the University of Toronto to take the division title. Waterloo avenged a 3-2 loss to Toronto in the fall with a 4-0 rout in the spring competition.

Miss. College Wins 4th Straight Dixie Division Title
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

A blitz of Jackson TV stations showed up as No. 4 Mississippi College (10-0) kept its table tennis crown as the Dixie Division champs. Alabama-Huntsville (8-2) was the division runner-up; it’s only losses coming at the hands of Miss. College. Also competing were Southern Miss., Mississippi St., Alabama, and West Florida.

Jackson television stations WAPT-16, an ABC affiliate, and WJTV-12, the CBS affiliate, captured much of the action February 19th on the Mississippi College Campus. Reporters interviewed MC standouts like Captain Ken Qiu, Bill Cai, and Ben VanHorn after securing their 4th straight division title.

“Our players have been working hard all year,” Qiu said. “I was impressed. Everybody put in a strong effort.” In his fourth season since beginning the team in 2007 as the squad’s coach, recruiter, and architect, Qiu also put in a stellar performance. He defeated Alabama-Huntsville’s top player in 3 straight games as the hometown fans cheered him on.

Among the crowd were several top Mississippi College leaders including  President Lee Royce and his wife, Rhoda, international programs leaders Jim Brackenridge and his wife, Diana, and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Ron Howard. “How about that MC table tennis team!,” Howard said after the competition wound down. “This is wonderful.” Also there to cheer on their son was Wayne VanHorn, dean of the School of Christian Studies and the Arts, and his wife, Terri. A Christian Studies major, Ben VanHorn plans to follow in his dad’s footsteps and become a preacher.

Ohio State Tops Ohio-Michigan Division
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

Ohio State is among the nation’s elite when it comes to basketball and football. The Buckeyes won the Big Ten Conference basketball tournament on their route to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Not to be outdone, the No. 20 Ohio State table tennis team went undefeated in the Ohio-Michigan Division (14-0) to capture the men’s/co-ed division championship. It didn’t come easy, though. The OSU Buckeyes prevailed over No. 23 Michigan State (12-2), winning 3-2 with a doubles match that went the full five games. The competition also saw a strong showing by the No. 21 Michigan State Spartans women’s team that won their division.

Some wondered if the 15 teams would be able to make it to the competition at all. Bad winter weather forced the University of Akron to cancel classes and close the school 24 hours before the February 26th competition. But Akron folks like Dustin Ilko and Chris Painter at the school’s recreation center got up early and went to work to set up the tables. A special thanks to Dustin and Chris!

Eight schools participated – Akron, Case Western, Central Michigan, Michigan State, Oberlin, Ohio State, Miami of Ohio, and Ferris State. The college players even stuck around after the competition and bonded over a few extra challenge matches before heading home. During the event and afterwards, the players showed “enthusiasm, a level of skill and sportsmanship that made for an exciting spring competition,” said region director Andy McCarthy.

Rocky Mountain Division Gets First Taste of NCTTA Competition
By Nancy Chen, Media Relations Committee

NCTTA’s newest division in the Rocky Mountain area (see January newsletter) may have just recently completed its first NCTTA competition, but the division is already looking to add new teams for next season.

On February 19th, the Rocky Mountain Division’s first NCTTA competition was held at the Salt Lake City table tennis club. Brigham Young, Utah, Utah Valley, and Westminster College were all on hand to compete. The local newspaper, the Salt Lake Tribune, even highlighted the event for its readers. Utah, which competed in the Northern California Division last season, used its experience to overcome the competition, although several of the newcomers played competitive matches as well.

Wichita State Wows in Wichita
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

Some table tennis players drove for five hours through rain and fog to get there. But a little rain and fog are not going to stop die-hard college table tennis enthusiasts.

A total of four teams showed up as schools from Kansas and Nebraska battled it out for the NCTTA Kansas Division title. Thanks go out to the Wichita Table Tennis Club for donating a facility that was excellent for our favorite sport. There were eight tables and lots of goodies for visitors at the recent spring competition.

One more thing. Well, maybe two. When it was all said and done, Wichita State (6-0) emerged as the champions for the fourth year in a row. That’s quite a run. Some players stayed around to take on members of the Wichita club to add to a great day of table tennis.

Wichita State will soon pack their paddles and bags for the NCTTA’s championship games in Rochester, Minnesota April 15-17.

Baruch and Columbia Win NYC Division
By Andy Kanengiser, Media Relations Chair

In the heart of the Big Apple, Baruch College and Columbia were the big winners in collegiate table tennis action.

No. 12 Baruch (18-1) was No. 1 in the co-ed division and managed to repeat as New York City Division champions. And Ivy Leaguer Columbia prevailed in the women’s division in the NCTTA regional tourney, overcoming last year’s division champion Rutgers to take the 2010-2011 season title. As the women’s division runner-up, Rutgers also qualified for the Championships.

Felix Filozov, the NYC Division Director, reports the Stony Brook team (9-10) was down because a number of their top players graduated. NJIT (13-6) showed improvement and moved up to the 4th spot in the division. Columbia (17-2) finished second in the co-ed division, losing to Baruch College and NJIT after going undefeated in fall competition. Still, due to the size and strength of the division, Columbia’s co-ed team secured a qualification spot to the Championships.

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

NCTTA, would like to thank Killerspin for its support of college table tennis. Killerspin is the exclusive NCTTA League and Championship Equipment sponsor through 2011. Member schools just need to fill out the Killerspin Premium Membership Program Application to receive phenomenal discounts. Browse all your favorite Killerspin equipment in the online Killerspin 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.

Search for 2012 Championships Location Continues

After none of the 5 bids submitted for the 2012 Championships quite fit the needs and expectations of the event, NCTTA leaders opted to re-open the bidding process for 2012. Which means that the search for a home for the 2012 Championships continues. The new deadline for interested cities is April 22, 2011.

So if you know of a potential bidder for the NCTTA championships, please spread the word. We want the very best site for our collegiate table tennis players, coaches, fans, volunteers and other supporters across the USA and Canada. And with the April 22 deadline looming, convention & visitor bureaus and other city and school officials are being asked to host us for what should be a memorable experience in April 2012!

For cities interested in bidding:
1. First read the 2012 Championships Bidding Guidelines
2. Submit a completed 2012 Championships Bid Application
Deadline is April 22, 2011.

NCTTA Revamps League Structure for Continued Growth

We are very excited to announce some important changes in the NCTTA league structure that are coming next season (2011-2012).

College table tennis has been growing quite rapidly throughout the US and Canada. Which means more players, more member schools, and more NCTTA divisions. All good things. But the current rate of growth has also created some challenges within our current league structure, in terms of keeping divisions to a manageable size, keeping travel distances reasonable for teams, and making sure every team has a fair shot at qualifying to the national championships.

In the fall of 2010, NCTTA formed a Redevelopment Task Force to devise some steps that NCTTA could take to better accommodate this growth. We advertised participation in this task force to all of NCTTA and we were able to get input from athletes, coaches and division directors. The task force came up with a clear direction forward and several recommendations which were reviewed and adopted by the NCTTA Board of Directors.

What does this all mean? Well, the biggest change to expect in the 2011-2012 season is the introduction of Regional Competition. So instead of division winners qualifying directly to the national championships, starting next season the league will work like this:

Division Competition => Regional Competition => National Competition

Each region will consist of several divisions. We anticipate having between 5-7 regions starting in the 2011-2012 season with 3-4 divisions assigned to each region.

Read more ...

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