CIPULLI IN ITA SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP
CLAIMS NCAA divISION II NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

October 16, 2004

Dante Cipulli

FT. MYERS, FL. ... Taking SBU men’s tennis to another level, senior Dante Cipulli will play on Sunday morning for a shot at being the best men’s single tennis player in all of NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, NAIA, and Junior/Community Colleges. Earlier in the day, he claimed the NCAA Division II Men’s Single National Championship.

After whipping up on J.Epkey from Southern Indiana, 6-0, 6-1, to win the national championship, he took care of the NCAA Division III national champion Kevin Casey (UC-Santa Cruz). Cipulli beat up on Casey, 6-3, 6-2, to advance to the ITA Super Bowl singles finals. He will now play Steven Lockwood from Fresno City Junior College for the rights of being the best small college singles tennis player.

Including last weekend, Cipulli has won eight straight singles matches. He was the #1 seeded singles player in the tournament for NCAA Division II.

SBU last won a NCAA Divison II single's national championship in 1993 when Michael Obertop claimed the title. SBU, though, has never had anybody play for the ITA Super Bowl National Championship to be the best men's tennis player for small colleges.

On Friday, he teamed with Johan Nortje as they took third place in NCAA Division II. They defeated Rincon/Laucht (Valdosta State) when the retired due to an injury.

ITA National Championships
Singles
D.Cipulli (SBU) def. J.Epkey (Southern Indiana), 6-0, 6-1

ITA Super Bowl Semi-Finals
Singles
D.Cipulli (SBU) def. K.Casey (UC-Sant Cruz), 6-3, 6-2
Faces: Steven Lockwood (Fresno City JC) in Super Bowl Championship

Doubles Third Place Match
Cipulli/Nortje (SBU) def. Rincon/Laucht(Valdost State), retired (injury)