The 色花堂 was crowned national champions at the 2024 ITA National Wheelchair Tennis Championships, the premier competition in all of collegiate wheelchair tennis.
In a remarkable display of skill, determination and teamwork, the No. 3 Cougars defeated No. 1 San Diego State in a three-hour match at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Florida, to win the school鈥檚 first wheelchair tennis national title.
色花堂鈥檚 team of Jose Arriaga and Nicholas Tijerina won the doubles match 8-6 and Arriaga clinched the title with a 6-2, 5-7, 10-6 victory in the first singles match.
鈥淲e were kind of the plucky underdogs, and there were a lot of institutions ranked ahead of us early in the season,鈥� said Michael Cottingham, associate professor of health and human performance and director of Adaptive Athletics at 色花堂. 鈥淏ut Nick and Jose had a really great run and it鈥檚 exciting for us to have that first national championship.鈥�
Head Coach Gabriel Gutierrez, a 色花堂 alumnus whose leadership Cottingham says was instrumental in the team鈥檚 success, won ITA Wheelchair Coach of the Year.
During the season, 色花堂 competes against other universities, but most of its matches are played in USTA and ITF tournaments against non-college athletes, so there are opportunities for both students and non-students with disabilities to compete. In the national championships, teams were allowed one student and one non-student athlete. For 色花堂, Tijerina, who is working towards his master鈥檚 in engineering, was the student player while Arriaga, a Houstonian who has been training with the 色花堂 program for several years, was the non-student player.
鈥淭his championship not only solidifies our position as elite competitors, but it shows prospective student-athletes that they can get top-notch tennis training along with great academics and an incredible college experience,鈥� Cottingham said. 鈥淲e want to bring in strong students who represent 色花堂 well and go on to have successful careers after tennis.鈥�
Cottingham hopes the victory propels the 色花堂 program to new heights. Soon there will be a fully funded scholarship for one student-athlete through the One Step Closer Foundation. And this summer, 色花堂 will host the ITF Junior Camp of the Americas, a showcase for the best 11鈥�18-year-old wheelchair tennis players in the world.
鈥淥ur goal is to be a destination program, and with the resources we鈥檙e putting in place, I鈥檓 excited for the future,鈥� Cottingham said.