Home >  Sports >  Notebooks

Sunday, May 13, 2001

When Craig Perry checked his tennis calendar this year and realized he was eligible to play in the National Men's 40 Indoor Championships, the first thought that popped into his mind was "Now I know I'm old."

Perry, 39, will make his first appearance in the tournament that begins Friday and will run through May 23 at the Oxford Athletic Club in Monroeville. This will be a homecoming for Perry, who spent 13 years as the director of tennis at the Oxford Athletic Club.

"I probably wouldn't play in the tournament unless it was in Pittsburgh," said Perry, the director of tennis for the Parkway Tennis Club and the Fox Chapel Golf Club. "My expectations are low."

Perry, a teaching pro who hasn't played in a tournament for 12 years, is the 16th seed in the 64-man singles field that includes defending champion Val Wilder and runner-up Mike Rose, the 1998 champion. Glenn Britzius, who was third last year, and fourth-place finisher Tom Lucci also are coming back.

Lucci, the 1999 singles champion, will team with Perry in doubles competition.

Perry said he doesn't expect to become the first district player to win the singles title since the tournament came to the Oxford Athletic Club seven years ago.

"Chances are I'm not going to be the first unless a lot of guys are having really bad days," he said with a laugh. "No, no, no, I can't compete with the top guys. They're still playing tournaments all-year round and they're used to playing matches. They have confidence on big points.

"I'll try the best I can. I don't want to make a fool of myself. There's still a little pride there. I can still serve and put the ball in play."

Double play

Don Johnson, who grew up in Mt. Lebanon, and Jared Palmer became the first American doubles team in more than 20 years to win consecutive doubles titles on European clay when they captured the Open Seat Godo championship in Barcelona and then Mallorca Open the following week in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The last time an American team won at least two titles on European clay in the same year was 1998, when Johnson and Francisco Montana won three events.

Johnson and Palmer have won three titles -- all this year. Overall, Johnson has won 18 ATP doubles titles.

Campus courts

Slippery Rock freshman Jessica Bungo is the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year and is joined on the women's all-conference first team by IUP freshman Yvonne Niederbracht.

Edinboro senior Adam Bartsch is the only representative from the West Division on the PSAC men's all-conference first team. Slippery Rock's Josh Shosky, a junior from Thomas Jefferson, is second team.

Katie Dellich, a freshman from Butler, is a member of West Liberty State's team competing at the NCAA Division II women's championships this weekend in Pensacola, Fla. West Liberty State, the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion, is in the nationals for the first time since moving from NAIA to Division II in 1994.

Dellich was 7-1 at No. 6 singles and 5-1 at No. 3 doubles this season. She will team with Emily Mitson at No. 3 doubles in the NCAA tournament.

Dellich, who played No. 1 singles for four years at Butler High School, has been a ranked USTA player since she was 10 years old.

Penn State junior Jamie Gresh, an all-Big Ten selection, will compete in the NCAA Division I men's singles championships, May 23-27, in Athens, Ga. He is the first representative in the championships from Penn State since Michael Carter in 1997.

Gresh, a junior ranked No. 2 and one of four from the East Region to advance to the nationals, was 27-14 at No. 1 singles this season.

Who's No. 1?

Georgia (22-1) moved up a notch to No. 1, supplanting Stanford (21-1) in the latest men's rankings by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). The last time Georgia was No. 1 was at the end of the 1999 season.

Stanford (24-0) has held the top spot in the women's rankings all 15 weeks of the 2001 season.

Fresno State's Peter Luczak and Arizona State's Adria Engel are the ITA National Players of the Month for men and women, respectively.