Hokie ClubPatrick Daciek, an incoming freshman from Severna Park, Md., captured the National Collegiate Clay Court Championships in Pittsburgh, Pa. over the weekend. Daciek cruised through the event without the loss of a set in winning six matches.
The ITA Summer Circuit is made up of seven regional circuits (East, Southeast, Midwest, Central, Mountain, Southwest and West) for collegiate players. Each region consists of four consecutive tournaments played during the month of July. The ITA Summer Circuit began in 1993 and over 22,000 players have competed in circuit events since its inception. The three remaining East region events are scheduled for Hanover, N.H. (July 12-15), University Park, Pa. (July 19-22) and Ithaca, N.Y. (July 26-29). The ITA National Summer Championships will take place Aug. 11-15 at Indiana University.
Daciek, seeded third in the event, defeated Bradley Portnoy, 6-1, 6-2, in his opening match before blanking Christopher Nixon, 6-0, 6-0. He was almost as impressive with a 6-1, 6-1, win over Ethan Arenstein, then defeated 12th-seed Preetham Moras, 6-2, 7-5, in the quarterfinals. Daciek eliminated No. 8 seed Mikhael Rasner 6-1, 6-1, in the semifinals, then won took the title with a 6-3, 6-2, victory against No. 7 seed Jeremy McClelland.
The National Collegiate Clay Court Championship actually began 120 years ago in 1889. Past tournament champions include Bill Tilden, Peter Fleming and Vitas Gerulaitis.