No. 21 Virginia Travels To No. 10 Oklahoma State For ITA Kickoff Weekend
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –The No. 21 Virginia women’s tennis team (3-0) hits the road for the first time this season, traveling to compete in a four-team regional at Oklahoma State as part of the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Cavaliers will face the 10th-ranked Cowgirls (2-1) at 5 p.m. ET on Friday.
ITA KICKOFF WEEKEND FORMAT
The ITA Kickoff Weekend is a tournament consisting of 15, four-team regionals. The winner of each regional will advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships hosted by Washington from Feb. 8-11.
Also competing in the regional at Oklahoma State are No. 16 Kansas and No. 18 Illinois.
The winners of Friday’s matches will advance to play each other on Saturday, while the two losing teams on Friday will face each other in a consolation match on Saturday.
All matches in the Oklahoma State regional are scheduled to be played at the Greenwood Tennis Center.
FOLLOW THE ACTION
Fans can keep up with the action through a live video stream linked at VirginiaSports.com. As of Friday, live stats will not be running for the match and the video does not have score updates. Updates will also be available by following the program’s official Twitter account (@UVAWomensTennis).
VIRGINIA IN THE TEAM RANKINGS
The Cavaliers are the No. 21 ranked team in the nation according to the preseason Oracle/ITA Women’s Tennis Rankings. Virginia jumped up two spots in the rankings after going 3-0 to start the season with wins over Quinnipiac, Army and Richmond.
HOOS REPRESENTED IN THE INDIVIDUAL RANKINGS
The Cavaliers are also represented in the individual rankings. Following a strong fall season, the duo of senior Meghan Kelley (Falmouth, Maine) and freshman Sofia Munera (Pereira, Colombia) are ranked No. 10 nationally in doubles. The tandem went 12-2 in the fall, winning the ITA Atlantic Regional and winning the consolation finals at the ITA Fall National Championships.
In singles, Kelley enters the dual season ranked No. 32 after posting a 10-5 record in the fall. She advanced to the semifinals of the ITA Atlantic Regional and earned an at-large bid to the ITA Fall National Championships, advancing to the Round of 16.
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia closed out a three-match, season-opening homestand on Tuesday afternoon with a 5-2 win over Richmond at the Boar’s Head Sports Club. The Cavaliers cruised to the doubles point with a pair of 6-0 wins on courts two and three. Virginia then clinched the match with straight-set wins from Kelley, junior Hunter Bleser (New Braunfels, Texas) and sophomore Vivian Glozman (Bellevue, Wash.). Also picking up a singles win for the Cavaliers was freshman Sofia Munera (Pereira, Colombia).
A LOOK AT OKLAHOMA STATE
The Cowgirls of Oklahoma State enter the weekend with a 2-1 record and are coming off wins over No. 22 Tulsa and Wyoming this past weekend. The lone loss on the season came at the hands of then No. 4 Duke in the Bahamas.
In singles play, the Cowgirls have three players ranked with Katarina Stresnakova leading the way at No. 21 overall. Two doubles teams are ranked with Oklahoma State tandems holding down the No. 21 and No. 28 spots in the rankings.
Last season, the Cowgirls posted a 20-5 mark on the year and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Oklahoma State finished second in the Big 12 standings a year ago.
UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Following the ITA Kickoff Weekend, the Cavaliers will continue play on the road with the first ACC match of the season at No. 24 Syracuse. Virginia and Syracuse will face off at 2 p.m. on Friday, February 1.