SMITH’S RUN AT THE ITA CHAMPIONSHIPS COMES TO AN END 10/7/2009 TULSA, Okla. - Sacramento State sophomore Jason Smith’s run at the ITA All-American Tennis Championships came to a close today after he lost his third-round qualifying singles match to UCLA’s Kallim Stewart, 6-3, 6-4. With a win today, Smith would have become the first men’s tennis player in school history to reach the main draw of the ITA’s. The Davis, Calif., native had already become the first Hornet to advance as far as the third round of the All-American Championships qualifying round. The tournament is being played at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center on the University of Tulsa’s campus, and is widely considered the premier hard court event of the fall collegiate season featuring the top players in Div. I. A total of 128 players began competing in the qualifying draw on Monday, and Smith was one of 32 players to reach the third round after beating No. 25 seed Steven Forman of Wake Forest in the first round, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1, and following that up with a victory over UC Irvine’s Fabian Matthews, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. Today’s opponent, Stewart, was the qualifying draw’s No. 9 seed and ranked 57th in the ITA’s preseason singles rankings. The only Hornets remaining in the tournament are senior Anton Stryhas and junior Kiryl Harbatsiuk, who will begin play in the main draw of the doubles tournament tomorrow. The tandem of Stryhas and Harbatsiuk, who are currently ranked 16th in the nation, will become the first Hornet doubles team to compete in the main draw of the tournament. They received an automatic berth into the main draw when selections for the event were made in September. A school-record tying six Hornets have competed in the tournament and thus far, and the results for each player is listed below. SINGLES DRAW QUALIFYING ROUND KIRYL HARBATSIUK Oct. 6 - Round 2 - lost to Tucker Vorster (Ole Miss), 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 Oct. 5 - Round 1 - def. No. 29 seed Patrick Daciek (Virginia Tech), 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1 JASON SMITH Oct. 7 - Round 3 - lost to No. 9 seed Kallim Stewart (UCLA), 6-3, 6-4 Oct. 6 - Round 2 - def. Fabian Matthews (UC Irvine), 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 Oct. 5 - Round 1 - def. No. 25 seed Steven Forman (Wake Forest), 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 ANTON STRYHAS Oct. 5 - Round 1 - lost to Attila Bucko (Baylor), 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 PRE-QUALIFYING ROUND HOLDEN CHING Oct. 3 - Round 2 - lost to No. 19 seed Victor Melo (Middle Tennessee), 6-2, 6-4 Oct. 3 - Round 1 - Bye MARKO STARCEVIC Oct. 3 - Round 2 - lost to No. 31 seed Steven Williams (Ohio State), 6-3, 6-3 Oct. 3 - Round 1 - Bye JIMMY ROBERTS Oct. 4 - Round 3 - lost to No. 8 seed Edgar Rodriguez (USC Upstate), 6-1, 6-1 Oct. 3 - Round 2 - def. Drew Feder (Saint Louis), 6-2, 6-3 Oct. 3 - Round 1 - Bye DOUBLES DRAW QUALIFYING ROUND HOLDEN CHING/MARKO STARCEVIC Oct. 6 - Round 1 - lost to Lachlan Ferguson/Alexander Van (Indiana), 8-6 JASON SMITH/JIMMY ROBERTS Oct. 6 - Round 2 - lost to Ed Corrie/Vasko Mladenov (Texas), 8-6 Oct. 6 - Round 1 - def. Sam Gould/Zac Tsai (UC Irvine), 9-8 (5)