May 7, 2004

NORFOLK, VA -- Old Dominion tennis student-athletes Izak van der Merwe (Kempton Park, South Africa), Zoltan Csanadi (Timisoara, Romania), and Nataly Cahana (Qiriat Bialik, Israel) will be participating at the 2004 NCAA Division I Championships it was announced late Thursday afternoon.

Van der Merwe is one of among 64 men's tennis singles players selected to the NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championship. Additionally he joins teammate Csanadi as one of 32 doubles teams to reach the tournament.

Van der Merwe, ranked 23rd in the country, has compiled a 29-10 overall singles mark. The Monarchs top singles player won the UVA Fall Classic and reached the semifinals of the ICY HOT/ITA Men's All-American Championships. This season he was named the CAA Player of the Year as well as the CAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Perfomrer.

The Monarchs' doubles entry of van der Merwe and Csanadi, boast a 11-5 record are currently ranked 15th in the country according to the latest ITA Poll. The duo reached the finals of the ITA National Indoor Championships in the fall.

Cahana is among 64 singles players that qualified on the women's side. Cahana has participated in every NCAA Women's Tennis Singles Championship all four years of her career. The senior Lady Monarch is ranked 30th nationally with a 29-7 overall singles mark. Cahana, a four-time CAA Player of the Year, captured the East Coast Collegiate Invitational and the ITA Eastern Region Championship

On the men's side, the singles and doubles competition will be conducted May 26-31 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, following the conclusion of the team championship (May 22-25). The women's singles and doubles participants will competing at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia, hosted by the University of Georgia May 24-29.