Lady Seasider Julia Ustyuzhanina won the NCAA Division II singles title at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Small College Championships, held in Ft. Myers, Florida, on Saturday, October 15. Ustyuzhanina defeatedSuzanna Cavalcante of West Florida 6-4, 6-0 in the championship match.
Ustyuzhanina then went on to the Small College "Super Bowl," a tournament pitting the champions of the NCAA II, NCAA III, NAIA, and NJCAAagainst each other, where she faced Marta Simic of Broward Junior College(FL) and was leading 6-4, 4-2 when she retired from the match. The early retirement was not injury-related, Ustyuzhanina retired because the finals of the "Super Bowl" were scheduled to be played on Sunday. She chose to follow the university policy of not participating in athletic events held on the Sabbath, a long-lasting standard at BYU-Hawaii, and its sponsoring institution, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. By withdrawing before winning the match, Ustyuzhanina allowed Simic to be declared the winner and advance to Sunday’s championship.
Ustyuzhanina and her doubles partner Tetyana Bula then did the same thing in the doubles competition of the "Super Bowl." The pair ledHiroko Nishikawa and Amanda Yogus of Hillsborough JC (FL) by a score of 6-0,5-1 before withdrawing from the match to allow the Hillsborough team to advance to Sunday's finale.
The ITA National Small College Championships and "Super Bowl" are comprised of the eight regional champions from NCAA Divisions II, III, NAIA and Junior/Community Colleges. The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), which administers the championships, used to grant BYU-Hawaii athletes an opportunity to compete in the finals on either Saturday or Monday, but for the last several years have withdrawn that option, and thus the team consistently chooses to withdraw from the tournament. The winners of the SmallCollege "Super Bowl" have the opportunity to play as a wild-card entry in the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, a DivisionI tournament. However, BYU-Hawaii won't have that opportunity, again, this year.
BYU-Hawaii Head Tennis Coach Dave Porter consistently indicates that he is both happy and disappointed at the results. "I felt the girls played well this week and was pleased with their performance," he said. "We are all disappointed that they will be unable to represent the small colleges at the Division I tournament, but we realize that tennis is just a game and there are other, more important things in life. We appreciate the opportunity to represent BYU Hawaii and the Lord by keeping the Sabbath Day holy."
The entire Seasider women's team will open their regular season on February 3rd with a match against Gustavus Adolphus.