June 7, 2006

SKILLMAN, N.J. - UCLA's Benjamin Kohlloeffel was named the 2006 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Player of the Year on Wednesday, becoming the first Bruin to earn the honor since 1982. He will be honored, along with other ITA award winners, during an August 26 ceremony in New York.

Kohlloeffel, a junior from Herne, Germany, became the first Bruin since current head coach Billy Martin in 1975 to win the NCAA singles title. He finished at No. 1 in the final Fila singles rankings while turning in a 47-4 overall record (31-2 against ranked opponents). In November he won the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor singles title and is only the second player to sweep the ITA Indoor and NCAA singles titles in the same season. Kohlloeffel teamed with Phillipp Gruendler to finish ranked No. 4 in doubles. He is the second Bruin to earn ITA National Player of the Year honors, joining 1982 winner Marcel Freeman.

As the governing body of collegiate tennis the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which is based in Skillman, N.J., administers several national and regional championship events, the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit, presented by the USTA, and the Fila Collegiate Tennis Rankings for men's and women's tennis at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship.

Past ITA National Players of the Year
1980 - Peter Rennert, Stanford
1981 - Tim Mayotte, Stanford
1982 - Marcel Freeman, UCLA
1983 - Greg Holmes, Utah
1984 - Paul Annacone, Tennessee
1985 - Mikael Pernfors, Georgia
1986 - Rick Leach, Southern California
1987 - Richey Reneberg, SMU
1988 - Robbie Weiss, Pepperdine
1989 - MaliVai Washington, Michigan
1990 - Steve Bryan, Texas
1991 - Al Parker, Georgia
1992 - Alex O'Brien, Stanford
1993 - Chris Woodruff, Tennessee
1994 - Mark Merklein, Florida
1995 - Sargis Sargsian, Arizona State
1996 - Cecil Mamiit, Southern California
1997 - Thomas Dupre, Mississippi State
1998 - Bob Bryan, Stanford
1999 - James Blake, Harvard
2000 - Alex Kim, Stanford
2001 - Matias Boeker, Georgia
2002 - Matias Boeker, Georgia
2003 - Amer Delic, Illinois
2004 - Benedikt Dorsch, Baylor
2005 - Benedikt Dorsch, Baylor
2006 - Benjamin Kohlloeffel, UCLA