Bob Ruzanic, the point man for an ambitious program co-sponsored by the USTA and Citiparks, is hoping tennis makes points with people who attend the Pittsburgh Tennis Block Party June 24 at Schenley Park.

The tennis festival from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. is free to the public and will offer instruction from professionals, games and other attractions for players of all ages and abilities.

"We want to get as many people as we can on the path to enjoying tennis," said Ruzanic, the USTA area tennis service representative. "The whole purpose is to drum up more interest in tennis."

Ruzanic estimates between 500 and 1,000 will participate in the various activities.

"We'd like this to set an example for everybody in the area who wants to promote tennis," said Ruzanic, noting a similar block party is scheduled later this summer in Peters Township.

"This is a way to reintroduce tennis to those who have stopped playing and to introduce the game to a whole new group of people. We want to energize people into wanting to come back into tennis. We want to get families involved."

Ruzanic sees the timing of the Block Party at Schenley Park as an additional plus.

"Between the French Open and Wimbledon is as good as it gets for tennis interest," he said. "There's no better way to celebrate tennis than those two tournaments."

District campus courts

Slippery Rock's Ashley Michaux, a senior from Penn-Trafford, is first team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West in singles for the fourth consecutive year and is first team in doubles with freshman partner Kayla Blackburn.

Blackburn is PSAC-West rookie of the year and first team in singles and doubles.

Michaux was 13-1 in singles and 14-2 in doubles this year and finished with a 79-11 record in singles and 81-14 in doubles. She is second on the school's list of all-time wins, behind Jessica Bungo (177-36).

Slippery Rock's Matt Meredith, who led the Rock to a 14-7 record, is PSAC-West coach of the year.

California sophomore Inga Chilingaryan, who was 29-1 in singles and ranked 31st in NCAA Division II by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, is the ITA's East Regional "player to watch." She helped the Vulcans win the PSAC women's team championship.

National campus courts

UCLA's Benjamin Kohlloeffel and Miami's Audra Cohen are the 2006 ITA men's and women's NCAA Division I singles players of the year and Illinois' Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe and Stanford's Alice Barnes and Anne Yelsey are the men's and women's doubles teams of the year.

Kohlloeffel, a junior from Herne, Germany, became the first UCLA player to win the singles title since his coach, Billy Martin, in 1975.

The honor roll

Craig Perry of Club 4 Life in Monroeville was named the 2005 tennis professional of the year by the Allegheny Mountain District, which includes Western Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. Martin Sturgess of the Fox Chapel Racquet Club is tournament director of the year and Carnegie Mellon's Andrew Girard coach of the year.

The top-ranked male and female players in Allegheny Mountain District open singles were Jeremy McClelland of Wheeling, W.Va., and Kristi Borza, a native of Beaver and sophomore at the University of Pittsburgh. The No. 1 boys' and girls' 18 singles are Andrew Thompson (Butler) and Sarah Lynch (Pine Richland).