CIPULLI TO PLAY FOR NATIONAL title
DOUBLES TEAM FALLS SHORT OF NATIONAL title MATCH

October 14, 2004

Dante Cipulli

Johan Nortje

FT. MYERS, FL. ... For the second year in a row, Dante Cipulli will be playing for the ITA NCAA Division II National Championship. Cipulli won his semifinal match to advance to the national championship.

Cipulli manhandled Tomas Hladil (Central Oklahoma) 6-3, 6-0 to vault himself into his second national championship match in as many years. He will face Joe Epkey from Southern Indiana for the right to be the best NCAA Division II singles player. Last year, Cipulli lost in the national championship match to Rob Steckley (Lander). SBU has not won an ITA singles national championship since Michael Obertop in 1993.

If Cipulli wins the national championship, he will advance to the ITA Small Colleges Super Bowl where he will compete to be the best small college player in America. The winner from NCAA Division III, NAIA, and junior college will all face each other to determine who the best tennis player is.

The SBU doubles team of Cipulli and Johan Nortje will play in the third place match as they fell to Robert Jendelund/Dale White (Armstrong Atlantic) in a very close match, 6-4, 7-5. SBU finished as the third best doubles team last year as Andras Bori and Mark Eori won the third place match.

ITA National Championships
Singles
D.Cipulli (SBU) def. T.Hladil (Central Oklahoma), 6-3, 6-0
Faces: J.Epkey (Southern Indiana) in national championship.

Doubles
Jendelund/White (Armstong Atlantic) def. Cipulli/Johan Nortje (SBU), 6-4, 7-5
Faces: Rincon/Laucht (Valdosta State) in third place match.