Nov. 6, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Senior Brett Helgeson (Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West) won his opening round match at the ITA National Indoors to advance to the round on 16 at the event. Helgeson dropped the first set, 3-6, to fourth-seeded Alex Clayton of Stanford but battled back to take the second set in a tie-break, 7-6(5), setting up a decisive third set, in which he came out victorious, 7-5.

With the win, Helgeson will now face Enrique Olivares of East Tennessee State University on Friday, November 7. Singles play will commence after a round of doubles play that begins at 10:00 a.m.

The National Indoors Championships are the second of three national tournaments administered by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) during the 2008-09 academic year. The University of Virginia is hosting the championships at the Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va. On the ITA circuit this fall, Helgeson has also participated in the main draw of the ITA All American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. as well as the main draw of the ITA Midwest Regionals. At the All American Championships, Helgeson made a run to the round of 16, ultimately falling to number-one seeded Oleksandr Nedevyesov of Oklahoma State, 2-6, 2-6.

At the Midwest Regionals, Helgeson, #25 in the preseason ITA rankings, Helgeson made it to the quarterfinals before falling to Marek Michalicka of Wisconsin, 3-6, 5-7. Helgeson, who was the number four seed in the tournament, made it to the quarterfinals with a win over Roy Kalmanovich of Illinois, 6-2, 6-1, marking his third consecutive straight-set win at the event.