Nov. 6, 2002

Sophomore Jesse Witten will compete in the 2002 Intercollegiate Tennis Association/Omni Hotels National Indoor Championships beginning Thursday, Nov. 7, at the Bookhaven Country Club in Dallas, Texas. Witten is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and is scheduled to play his match at 1:00 pm CST, which is subject to change.

The Naples, Fla., native advanced to the tournament by after winning the Region III Indoor Championships in Lexington, Oct. 28. He defeated Vanderbilt’s Bobby Reynolds in the finals, 6-2, 6-4. Witten is one of 32 players in this tournament. Participants earned berths based on their finishes in the ITA All American Championships or the Region Indoor Championships.

Witten’s first-round opponent is Virginia Tech’s Stephane Rod, who qualified for the tournament as a finalist in the East Region Indoor Championships. The Tech sophomore fell in the finals to Columbia’s Oscar Chow, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

Witten enters the tournament with a strong 12-2 fall record, having gone undefeated in two tournaments. He looks to improve on his finish in last year’s championships, when he fell in the second round to Texas-Arlington’s Andy Leber.

Middle Tennessee’s Daniel Klemetz earned the top seed in the tournament by winning the ITA All-American Championships earlier this fall.