Sept. 24, 2007

Submitted by Rob Eisele, William Jewell College, 816-415-7574

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Small College Championship began in 1986 and annually crowns men's and women's single and doubles national champions in each of the ITA's four small college divisions (NAIA, NCAA Divisions II and III and Junior/Community College) during the month of October. Participants are determined through the Wilson/ITA Regional Championships, held in September and October, which serve as qualifying tournaments. The national championship from each division then square off in the "Super Bowl" of Small College Tennis to determine the overall ITA National Small College Champions. The champions earn berths into the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships.

This past weekend the William Jewell College (Mo.) women's doubles team of senior Allison Cobb and first-year player Nikki Chambers won the Small College Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Regional Championships. The three-day tournament was held September 21-23 at The Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City, Mo. Cobb and Chambers defeated Paulina Ojeda and Kristin Canon from Benedictine College (Kan.) 9-7 in the finals. Ojeda and Canon were the number-one seeds of the tournament. The win sends the Jewell duo to National Competition October 11-14 in Mobile, Ala. Cobb is the first player in the history of the tennis program at Jewell to qualify for the ITA National Tournament four years in a row.  

"Allison, Nikki and the entire team have worked extremely hard over the last month" said head coach Paul Worstell.  "Allison and Nikki executed an outstanding game plan in that finals match and I am so proud of how focused they were. Now we will prepare to play the National Tournament in a couple of weeks."

Next up for the Cardinal tennis team is a date with Buena Vista University and Simpson College on Saturday, September 29, in Indianola, Iowa.

For a complete list of NAIA Wilson/ITA Regional Championship results click here.