NCAA Indoor National Championships:

Basketball 1 - (Women 2011)
Tennis 1 - (Women 2024)
Track & Field 1 - (Men 2017)

Must say first that football is the money maker at most schools. I realize that.

Lack of funding for tennis is due to a lot of things but I think mostly because it is considered a 'minor sport' and it has very low attendance and visibility compared to other sports. And women's tennis is even 'more minor'. Same with women's golf. But people tend to forget that these athletes are Aggies, too, and deserve as much respect as the 'major sports'.

Was almost completely out of sight and out of mind until the ladies did really well the past few years AND won the national title last Spring. Mary's continued success nationally has certainly helped. Might have sparked some interest in those who make funding decisions but I doubt much.

As mentioned by another, tennis does not have any big donors. Women with money are driving donations at a few softball programs (think of OU and recently Texas Tech). Along this line one thought I find interesting is that a lot of Aggies who donate big bucks to football also play a lot of golf and tennis. Men and women. If they could be persuaded to earmark at least some of their donations to those two sports it would be great. Gosh, go to any country club in the larger metro areas of Texas and you'll see tons of Aggies playing the two sports (although mostly golf) - how to talk them into supporting student athletes who play the same? Big question!

In my youth when I went to country clubs it was mostly to swim but I noticed that most of those playing tennis were girls and women. How to target them specifically? I do not know what the department is called that solicits donations (probably separate one for athletics) but if no one in that office cares about the minor sports they will probably not promote the sports nor make any effort to solicit donations specifically for those sports. Mark might talk to them regularly, I have no idea. He probably does.

Anyway, just my two pfennig.

It seems like every other year there's a new rec center being opened on campus, why can't we attach an area with some space for courts on it

Or a simple addition to the PEAP building close to the tennis courts that can hold 6 courts! There is so much unused space around that building

Oh my goodness, I never thought about what happens to donations when projects go under… I'd rip Kyle field apart if I were in your shoes!

What's worse is I caught Ross Bjork at a 12th Man function one evening in the Hall of Champions. We were right in front of CSQ's exhibit/poster. And I asked him, if he realized how embarrassing it was for us NOT to have an indoor facility? He brushed me off like so much lint. He was SUCH a snob.

The only hope we have of getting indoors on campus is that I've heard numerous times that Alberts is not keen on the idea of us renting the facility in Bryan. I think A&M and the city were looking for a way out. Hopefully they find it

Screw Bjork

This statement cannot be repeated enough

After winning her first WTA main draw level match in Bolivia! last week Carson's live ranking went above 250 for the first time.

Still no results found for action in Fort Worth last week or who is going to which tournament this week.

Jeanette won a couple of matches, saw it on the Texas Tech site

TWO ITA TOURNAMENTS THIS WEEK:

CONFERENCE MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP - One representative from each conference (singles / doubles) with the four semifinalists (singles) / finalists + third place (doubles) qualifying for the NCAA Individual Championships.

SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (Texas, Central & Midwest Regions) - six singles players from each section will qualify for the NCAA Singles Championship (semifinalists, two quarterfinal playoff winners).
-Notable schools include Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Arkansas

Quote:

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Only players and doubles teams who have yet to earn entry into the NCAA Championships and have made deep runs at the ITA All-American or ITA Regional Championships will be eligible for participation.

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1. Mary won't play singles this week, she has already qualified for the NCAAs.
2. Expect Daria to play in the Sectional tournament (Texas division semifinalist) and maybe Nicole.
3. According to this M&M, the ITA Preseason #2 and last year's #2 pair will not play for the NCAA Doubles Championship because they have not played together yet. The Preseaon #1 doubles team from Oklahoma State will have to be among the top three in the Central Secional to compete in the NCAA Doubles Championships.



WARNING: LONG-WINDED RANT
For this year's selection for Singles in the Conference Masters Championships, the Southestern Conference has selected Carmen Andreea Herea from texas university. Carmen is the fourth ranked t-sip freshman (that's the 4th highest UTR among freshmen at that school in austin) as its sole representative to the Conference Masters Championships for singles. Reminder that players already qualified for the NCAA Singles Championship are not eligible for this tournament (e.g. Mary, Vidmanova, UT's Elza Tomase, Auburn's DJ Bennett. Some players like Vandy's Celia-Belle Mohr, Mia, and Lulu didn't play great at the All-American tournament; and some players like Florida's Rachel Gailis haven't played singles yet in college action this year. (according to the ITA website), but Georgia's Lopata has won a tournament and Nicole advanced farther in the All-Americans than this Herea.

I would love the explanation on why this TU freshmen got a selection over so many other deserving players.

I obviously don't know the true selection details. However, i mentioned earlier that Nicole initially was wanting to play in the ncaa singles tournament, however, after not qualifying through all-americans and regionals due to a tough lingering illness she decided to focus on pro tournaments the rest of the fall. Same is with mia and lulu. Nicole wanted to play it the most but that's past now. Daria maybe could have received that bid, but i'm not surprised the tu girl got it over her. we'll see what happens at sectionals.

Signem said:

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when nothing happened I asked someone in the 12th Man, "Hey, whatever happened to that $10K I gave back in '08?" They said, "Oh that project died so we just put that money in the General Fund."

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That isn't legal. If you restrict your donation to funding something, they can't do anything else with that money. If the project falls through they have two options...refund your donation or contact you for permission to change the restrictions on that donation. They shouldn't have moved that money to the General Fund without your permission to do so.

This is one of the reasons non-profits are reluctant to do capital campaigns unless they are very confident that it will succeeded because failed or stalled capital campaigns are a nightmare. It is also why they usually have a quiet fundraising part until they get some big donor(s) lined up before asking the masses.

The t.u. girl may be the legitimate choice, who knows how they chose her or who goes to the sectional tournament. They had an amazing class, two of which already qualified for NCAAs in the Texas regional and one isn't playing college ball this fall. It just sounds weird; the representative for the SEC in the Conference Masters Championship is the fourth best freshman at one of the new schools.

It's just questionable in general. It's like the SEC gods are trying to please TU as much as possible

I am the first to admit, I have no idea what is going on in the college tennis world anymore. Who is playing where and why! I don't think I like the singles and doubles championship in the fall

I don't mind it, but the way to qualify is a little ****ed up. The fact that Nicole and Mia aren't playing is criminal. And I'm
Sure they aren't the only ones. No way TUs number 4 freshmen should have any entry here without actually earning it. Mia and Nicole have earned their ranking through years of actually winning against high level competition.


What I like about the spring championships is that bids are earned through a season body of work. The fall is literally the luck of the draw and can you get hot at the right time

The reason Mia and Nicole aren't playing is because there is a significantly better benefits for them to play pro tournaments. Previously players would qualify with their ranking after playing fall and spring. The best players in the country still played pro tournaments in the fall. Now with the ITA/NCAA heavy rescheduling, international students don't want to do extra things to try to qualify. The better competition and pro career springboard for them is to compete in pro tournaments. For Mary and the other Americans on the team and in the country there is the incentive of the US Open wildcard that is driving them to still compete in ITA/NCAA.

I HAVE SHOCKING DATA RELEVANT TO THIS CONVERSATION:

The draw is not out but the listing was just put up:

2024 ITA Division I Women's Central Sectional Championship
University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI,
Nicole, Mia, Daria will all play in Ann Arbor in Singles.
Nicole and Daria in doubles.

https://colleges.wearecollegetennis.com/Competitions/ITA/Tournaments/players/3AD362F7-2AB7-4951-8013-07A4D61FD9A7

nereus said:

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Signem said:

---

when nothing happened I asked someone in the 12th Man, "Hey, whatever happened to that $10K I gave back in '08?" They said, "Oh that project died so we just put that money in the General Fund."

---

That isn't legal. If you restrict your donation to funding something, they can't do anything else with that money. If the project falls through they have two options...refund your donation or contact you for permission to change the restrictions on that donation. They shouldn't have moved that money to the General Fund without your permission to do so.

This is one of the reasons non-profits are reluctant to do capital campaigns unless they are very confident that it will succeeded because failed or stalled capital campaigns are a nightmare. It is also why they usually have a quiet fundraising part until they get some big donor(s) lined up before asking the masses.

---

That is why documentation of gifts is so important. If the $10K was a verbal commitment, there's no proof that it was intended for an indoor facility. However, the bottom line should be keeping a positive relationship with the donor. If I project dies go back and at least offer an alternative (a refund is much more complicated because of tax laws). It's just common decency as well as good business - a satisfied donor is the best prospect for a future, larger gift.

Most capital gift agreements today will offer an alternative use clause. And yes, campaigns are not launched unless there is already enough committed to guarantee success.

Anchorhold said:

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I HAVE SHOCKING DATA RELEVANT TO THIS CONVERSATION:

The draw is not out but the listing was just put up:

2024 ITA Division I Women's Central Sectional Championship
University Of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI,
Nicole, Mia, Daria will all play in Ann Arbor in Singles.
Nicole and Daria in doubles.

https://colleges.wearecollegetennis.com/Competitions/ITA/Tournaments/players/3AD362F7-2AB7-4951-8013-07A4D61FD9A7

---

Thanks for the news and the link !!

Lulu is back in South America this week competing in the Cali, Columbia WTA 125. This is her 2nd WTA main draw appearance( the other being another 125). She and her doubles partner (ortenzi, whom she played with all this summer) already won their 1st round match. Lulu is set to play tomorrow in the 1st round of singles against the 2 seed, world #102 (career high #22). Don't know when she will play.
https://www.wtatennis.com/tournament/1110/cali-125/2024/draws

Current estimated time is at 3:15 pm Texas Time.

Her doubles match was (and is still up) on https://www.tenisalmaximo.pe/tv2/. Their links go from (tv1 - tv6).

Vamos Lu!

Mia also won a W125 doubles main draw match with her summer partner yesterday and will play again Thursday. She is not playing singles in this tournament, possibly saving that for the ITA Sectional Championship, which is 1:43 drive away.

Lex has won two matches to advance to the main draw in the W35 Miami, FL. She is up 2-0 now in the first set, but I can't find a streaming link.

https://live.itftennis.com/en/live-scores/?tourkey=W-ITF-USA-2024-049&_gl=1*1gy0xgy*_ga*Nzg5MzY3MDE2LjE3MTg2NTUzODY.*_ga_ZRMHKRE9CL*MTczMDkwMjc5NC4yNTAuMS4xNzMwOTAyODgzLjAuMC4w

Sectional Draw is up, but times are not.

Nicole is seeded #2 and starts against Michigan freshman Emily Sartz-Lunde who is 8-2 this fall and a UTR of 10.55. Not much help on that seeding.
Daria faces Iowa's #1 Daianne Hayashida.
As Chruchie said, Mia is not included in the draw and is focused on her pro-tournament up the road. (It's still nice to know she could have played here if she wanted).

Daria and Nicole are seeded #1 in doubles and start against TCU Main / Tsai, who were finalists in the Texas Regional tournament.

Daria takes the first set in a tiebreaker.
https://web.playsight.com/live/university-of-michigan-tennis/106

Nicole loses the first set but wins the second.
https://web.playsight.com/live/university-of-michigan-tennis/105

Playing on adjacent courts, scoreboard is on Nicole's video feed, but I'm not certain of the accuracy.

Nicole wins 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 over Emily Sartz-Lunde (remember that name, that girl good).

Daria is up 7-6, 3-6, 4-3.

Lexington won 7-6(5), 6-3

ON TO DOUBLES:
Mia won 6-2, 6-2 over the #1 seed

Thanks for the updates! I have been busy and not able to follow any matches online.

Does anyone know if any of our girls are playing in the H-E-B Women's Pro Tennis Open next week in Austin? Mary did last year. Lost to the eventual winner in the opening round.

I'm really hoping Mary plays and wins which would get her into the ATX Open this year.

Nicole + Daria fall in doubles 5-7, 5-7, but both win in singles.