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Hopkins Ranked Eighth in Final Campbell's ITA National Ranking
June 14, 2012
BALTIMORE, MD - The Johns Hopkins men's tennis team capped the best season in program history this week as the Blue Jays are ranked eighth in the final Campbell's Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Ranking. Hopkins finished the 2012 campaign with a 19-5 record and an appearance in the NCAA Quarterfinals. The Blue Jays tied a school record with 15 consecutive wins. The number eight ranking is the highest in school history in the ITA's final poll of the season, besting the team's final ranking of 11th in 2007 and 2009. Hopkins is also ranked second in the Atlantic South region, finishing just behind national champion Emory. Hopkins also produced four ITA All-Americans this season in seniors Jacob Barnaby and Warren Elgort, junior Andy Hersh and freshman Tanner Brown. JHU's four individual All-America selections are a program record and matches only Amherst as the most in Division III this season. One of the youngest teams in the nation with four freshmen in the starting lineup, Hopkins is one of just two teams (Emory is the other) with two freshmen ranked in the top 50 nationally in singles. In addition to the team rankings, there are several Blue Jays in the singles and doubles rankings. Leading the way are Barnaby and Elgort, who are ranked ninth in the national poll and second in the region. The duo earned ITA All-America honors after advancing to the NCAA Semifinals last month and finished the season with a 13-6 record, including a 12-3 mark in the last 15 matches. The number nine ranking matches the program record for a doubles pair, set by David Maldow and Andrew Wang in 2009. Barnaby, the only two-time All-American in doubles in program history, finished his career with a program-record 91 doubles wins. Elgort won 63 doubles matches in his career to rank fifth at Hopkins.
In the singles poll, junior Andy Hersh leads a contingent of three Blue Jays as he is ranked 22nd nationally and third in the Atlantic South. Hersh, the 2012 Centennial Conference Player of the Year and ITA Southeast Regional Champion, earned All-America honors in the fall with his regional title. He finished the season with an 18-10 record and enters his senior year with 63 career singles wins to rank fourth in school history. Brown finished just two spots behind Hersh, ranking 24th in the nation and fourth in the region. He earned First Team All-Centennial Conference honors for singles and was named the ITA Atlantic South Rookie of the Year with a 22-6 record. His 22 wins in 2012 are a school record for wins by a freshman and are just two shy of the overall record for wins in a season. Brown is the third highest ranked freshmen in the national poll and is one of eight freshmen ranked in the top 50. He advanced to the second round of the NCAA Singles Championship, the first freshman in program history to do so, and earned ITA All-America honors in the process. Brown is joined by classmate Ben Hwang, who is ranked 44th nationally and 10th in the region. Hwang earned Second Team All-Centennial Conference honors in singles and finished his rookie season with a 14-5 record, ending the season on a five-match win streak. He advanced to the ITA Southeast Semifinals last fall, one of three Blue Jays to make it to the semifinals. |
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