BATON ROUGE — Senior Michael Venus of the LSU men’s tennis team will make history for the second time this season by joining the first U.S. team to compete in the International University Challenge of Tennis slated for Dec. 4-7 in Poitiers, France.
“It is an honor for Michael and for LSU to have him represent the United States in this competition,” LSU head coach Jeff Brown said. “I know he will represent our country and our school with great effort and intensity that will make us all proud.”
Venus first made history for the Tigers in October as he became the first member of the LSU men’s tennis program to clench the D’Novo/Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American crown since the tournament’s inception in 1979.
As the 2008 D’Novo/ITA All-American champion, the United States Tennis Association in a joint partnership with the ITA selected Venus along with five others to join the U.S. team.
John Kauss of Gustavus Adolphus College and Georgia’s Nate Schnugg will complete the men’s roster. Representing the women’s team will be Amanda Fink of the University of Southern California, Jennifer Kung of the University of Chicago and Arizona State’s Kelcy McKenna.
The teams are comprised of the top male and female American finishers at the 2008 ITA All-American Championship, ITA Small College Championship and top-ranked American players in the ITA preseason Division I rankings.
Along with the United States, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Montenegro, Russia and Switzerland will compete in a best-of-seven format with two singles matches each for both the men and women, one men’s and one women’s doubles match and one mixed doubles match.