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JCCC doubles team wins region Wilson/ITA Championships
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Johnson County Community College
Press Release

College Information and Publications
913-469-8500
Julie Haas, Director, ext. 3120
Peggy Graham, Writer, ext. 3425
Tyler Cundith, Sports Information Director, ext. 3122

JCCC doubles team wins region Wilson/ITA Championships

OVERLAND PARK, KS --  The Johnson County Community College doubles team of sophomore Dylan Gatton and freshman Taj Harrison won the 2007 Wilson/ITA Central Region Championship Saturday afternoon on their home court.  The pair did not loose a single set in the championship.  They now advance to the 2007  Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA )National Small College Championships,  Oct. 11-12, at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center in Mobile, Ala.

This is the second straight year a JCCC doubles team has won this championship.  Last year, Zach Frisch and Quinton Peterson-Paul won the Central Region title and then went on to post a runner-up finish at the 2006 ITA National Small College Championships in Fort Myers, Fla. They were the first JCCC team to reach the final in this event.

Gatton and Harrison opened the tournament with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Jim Blacketer and Sean Cobbie of Cowley College. They followed with another straight set win over Nathan Bergman and Tiago Vilarinho of Arkansas-Fort Smith, 6-4, 6-4.  In their semifinal match, JCCC posted an unusual win over Neo Losmosos and Roman Mendoza of Barton County.  JCCC won by a default because the Barton team was too fatigued to continue after winning a hard-fought, three-set match in their quarterfinal round.

Gatton and Harrison, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, then faced No. 1 Diego Motivar and Richard Fikuka of Cowley, and prevailed in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.  

In singles play, Gatton and freshman Adam Rens each reached the semifinals.  Gatton lost to No. 1 seed Diego Motiver, 2-6, 4-6. Prior to that match, Gatton had not lost a set his three previous matches.  Rens lost to No. 4 seed Richard Fikuka, 4-6, 4-6.  Gatton was an eight seed in the 32-player field.    Harrison and freshman Zach Buenger reached the quarterfinals in the singles tournament.

On the women’s side, sophomores Claudia Voicu and Shelly Barger reached the semifinals in double play, and in the singles bracket, sophomore Marie Cellitti advance to the quarterfinals.  Cellitti opened with an impressive 6-0, 6-0 win over Alex Wilson of Rend Lake, then downed Monica Medina of Cowley in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1.  Cellitti was defeated by No. 3 seed Karolina Parizkova of Cowley, 3-6, 0-6.