Border Battle on the Banks - Tennis on Campus on the Outer Banks

Rain couldn’t put a damper on the 1st Annual Border Battle on the Banks held at the Westside Athletic Club in Powells Point, NC. This event, created by USTA/Virginia and USTA/North Carolina, allowed Tennis on Campus teams from both states to meet up at a popular tourist destination, the beaches of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Teams were given a unique opportunity to play all teams who entered in the draw, in the standard World Team Tennis format, while enjoying beach front views from their hotel after long days of matches.

Saturday morning teams were met with rain, so while a few teams powered through the drizzle on the clay courts at the Westside Athletic Club, other teams were shuffled off to the nearest indoor facility, Pine Island Racquet Club in Corolla. This indoor three court facility allowed the first day matches to complete in a timely fashion, at a great facility. By the end of day one, both NC State and Elon University were leading the way with 3-0 records, followed by James Madison University and Old Dominion University both coming out with wins. Players were also provided a pizza lunch on Saturday and t-shirts at check-in.

Though no rain fell on Sunday, the teams fought through some chilly weather in the morning at Westside Athletic Club. This stand-out facility boasts 4 clay and 4 hard courts, giving the teams an opportunity to experience both surfaces throughout the weekend. The first round of matches on Sunday featured NC State vs. Elon, JMU vs. ODU, and Radford vs. VCU, some very competitive matches to start off the day. Teams rolled straight into their final match of the tournament at 11am, as the top teams of the tournament were determined.

NC State University came out in the lead with a 5-0 record for the weekend, with their toughest match transpiring against Elon University, the tournaments eventual second place team, 22-19. James Madison University followed at 3rd place, Old Dominion University at 4th place, Radford University at 5th place and Virginia Commonwealth University at 6th place.

Radford University was given the tournament Team Sportsmanship award, as voted on by their peers.

The tournament staff would like to thank all the teams who participated. We hope you enjoyed the tournament and had a fun, relaxing weekend in the Outer Banks. Good luck to those teams who will be attending the National Campus Championship in Cary, NC in the upcoming weeks – Elon University, James Madison University and Old Dominion University.

Special thanks to Director of Tennis Tony Willingham of Westside Athletic Club, Director of Tennis Rick Ostlund & Assistant Pro Kent Autrey of Pine Island Racquet Club, General Manager Kate Rupert of Westside Athletic Club, Pizzazz Pizza, Hilton Garden Inn-Outer Banks, Team Connection, Mary Lloyd Barbera & Caroline Downs of USTA/NC, Shell Wood of USTA/Virginia, and Jeff Smith of USTA/Southern for all of their hard work in making this event a success.

For photos of the event, please visit the USTA/Virginia Facebook page – http://www.facebook.com/USTAVirginiaTennis

Click here for the Draw.