Tennis: Rotorua's Olsen secures US event spot

Rotorua's Kane Olsen has qualified for a top United States tennis tournament.

Olsen is a Junior student at Bethany College in Kansas, studying business management. He is a former student of Western Heights High School.

Last weekend he represented the Bethany College Swedes in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association/ANIA Central-West Region Tournament and won the doubles with team-mate Marcelo Alecio.

The win qualifies Olsen as a singles and doubles player in the NAIA National Tournament to be played from October 13 to 16 in Mobile, Alabama.

Bethany Head Tennis Coach Vic Bateman said the winners of the eight NAIA regions across the United States were the only players invited to the October tournament and would play in a draw to crown the NAIA singles and doubles champions.

The winners of that tournament will go into a four-person team draw to play against the NCAA DII, DIII and Junior College national champions to crown a small college Super Bowl champion.

That winner goes into the NCAA Division I National tournament in one of the more unique events in all sports where any player from any college in the US can win the tournament.

"Kane and Marcelo's road to the ITA Regional Title included wins over the number one team from Missouri Valley and the number one team from Graceland University," Bateman said.

"Kane and Marcelo are the first two men from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference to qualify for the ITA National Tourney in the last 20 years."

Bateman said he was hoping for a top 10 or top 15 NAIA rating.

"We have the deepest team we have had in years."

The Bethany College Swedes compete in 18 intercollegiate sports in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.