Schorsch Advances to Main Draw at Ursula Beck Pro Tennis Classic
Playing in his first professional tournament, Valparaiso University men’s tennis rising senior Jeffrey Schorsch (Perrysburg, Ohio/Perrysburg) has advanced through the qualifying draw of the Ursula Beck Pro Tennis Classic to the 32-player main draw, which begins today.
With eight main draw slots open to players from the qualifying draw, Schorsch was the only unseeded player in the 64-player qualifying draw to win three matches to advance. Schorsch kicked off action against former UCSB star Mbonisi Ndimande and easily dispatched of him (6-3, 6-1).
The first-round victory set Schorsch up in a rematch with Northwestern’s top singles player Konrad Zieba, the eighth seed in the qualifying draw. The pair matched up against each other in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this past May, a match which was stopped tied at one set apiece. This time, however, there would be no stopping the match and Schorsch took care of business, downing Zieba (6-3, 6-4) to move within one win of making the main draw.
Schorsch would face off versus former Wake Forest star Jonathan Ho – the 11th seed in the qualifying draw – for the right to advance to the main draw. Schorsch took the first set handily at 6-4, but found himself trailing 5-2 in the second set. The two-time defending Horizon League Player of the Year managed to regroup, though, and rallied to force a tiebreaker before downing Ho 7-4 in the tiebreak for a 6-4, 7-6 victory.
Schorsch, who won the inaugural Valparaiso Open earlier this summer, will begin his run through the main draw on Wednesday, as he takes on Marc Polmans.
Campbell a Finalist for PDL Goalkeeper of the Year
Valparaiso University men’s soccer senior Nico Campbell (Kingston, Jamaica/St. George’s College) capped his strong summer campaign with the Des Moines Menace by being named as one of the three finalists for the Premier Development League (PDL) Goalkeeper of the Year award this week.
Campbell, who was named to the PDL All-Central Conference team last week, helped backstop one of the league’s top defenses this summer, as the Menace surrendered just seven goals in 14 regular-season matches. Campbell made nine starts at goalkeeper for Des Moines during the regular season, posting a 0.44 GAA and making 36 saves for a .900 save percentage, and then started both of the playoff matches in goal for the Menace.
Campbell was joined on the short list for PDL Goalkeeper of the Year honors by Ryan Cretens of the Carolina Dynamo and Augustin Rey of the Fresno Fuego. The trio was chosen as finalists from 67 PDL teams, with the winner to be announced this Friday.
