Virginia Hosts ITA Kick-Off Weekend Matches
| ITA Kick-Off Weekend | Saturday & Sunday, January 27-28 |
| Schedule | Sat 10 am: Virginia vs Texas Tech Sat 2 pm: Columbia vs. Ole Miss Sun. 10 am: Consolation Sun. 1 pm: Final |
| Location | Charlottesville, Va. | Boyd Tinsley Courts, Boar’s Head Sports Club |
| Coverage | Live Scoring & Video |
| Additional Information | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | 2018 Stats | 2018 Fact Book |
Jan. 26, 2018 –
CHARLOTTEVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s tennis team will be hosting ITA Kick-Off Weekend matches on Saturday and Sunday, January 27-28, at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club.
Admission is free for all Virginia home tennis matches. Live scoring and streaming video will be available through a link on VirginiaSports.com.
ITA Kick-Off Weekend consists of 15 regionals with four teams competing in each regional across the country. The winners of the single-elimination event advance to next month’s ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships, being held Feb. 16-19 in Seattle, Wash. Washington will serve as hosts for the National Team Indoors and received automatic invitation to the championship, and is exempt from competing in the Kick-Off Weekend.
No. 15 Virginia (2-0), the top seed in its regional, will open play on Saturday, January 27, taking on No. 25 Texas Tech (9-1) at 10 a.m. No. 23 Columbia (1-0) and Ole Miss (4-0) will follow at 2 p.m.
The two winning teams from Saturday’s matches will face off at 1 p.m. on Sunday in the final. The two losing teams will play on Sunday in the consolation final at 10 a.m.
Virginia opened up its dual season last weekend with a pair of victories over in-region foes Richmond and Temple. Junior Aswin Lizen (Douglas, Isle of Man), redshirt freshman Ammar Alhaqbani (Alexandria, Va.) and freshmen Gianni Ross (Chicago, Ill.) and Kyrylo Tsygura (North Potomac, Md.) all went 2-0 in singles. Lizen and Tsygura also went 2-0 as a team at No. 2 doubles.
Texas Tech moved up to No. 25 in the ITA rankings this week after starting the spring dual season with a 9-1 record. The Red Raiders lone loss was a 6-1 setback against Florida State. Connor Curry has a 5-1 record at No. 1. Matheus Leite is 18-7 in singles in fall and spring matches. This will be the first-ever meeting between Virginia and Texas Tech.
Ole Miss, the No. 3 seed in the regional and the only unranked team of the four, played four matches last weekend, picking up wins over Southern Miss, Troy and a pair against Alcorn State. Gustav Hansson went 3-0 at No. 1 singles. Tim Sandkaulen is 12-3 in singles this year. Ole Miss has four players ranked in singles with Sandkaulen at No. 14, Hansson at No. 32, Zvonimir Babic at No. 69 and Filip Krajlevic at No. 86. Virginia is 4-0 all time against the Rebels.
This will be the fourth trip to Charlottesville in the last three years for Columbia. The Lions played at the Boar’s Head in 2016 in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship and were sent to both the 2016 and 2017 Charlottesville NCAA Regionals. Victor Pham leads the Lions with a No. 19 ranking and a 16-5 record. Virginia is 6-0 all time against the Lions.
The Cavaliers have competed at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships every year since 2005, winning six titles in that span, including the 2017 title when the championship was held in Charlottesville.
Host sites for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend were determined using the final 2016-17 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. A draft was held to fill the No.’s 2-4 seeds at all locations, again using the final national team rankings as a guide to determine draft order. In 2017, teams that hosted ITA Kick-Off Weekend regionals fared exceptionally well, with 12 of 15 men’s teams, advancing to the ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships.