TCU Women Travel to ITA Kickoff Weekend
1/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
Jan. 27, 2011
FORT WORTH - TCU's women's tennis team returns to action at 2 p.m. PT, Friday, against St. Mary's College of California in its opening-round matchup of the ITA Kickoff Weekend at the Hellman Tennis Center in Berkeley, Calif.
The ITA Kickoff Weekend is an annual event for 60 teams looking to qualify for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 18-21, hosted by the University of Virginia. Teams competing at the kickoff weekend are guaranteed two matches, with teams winning both of their matches advancing to the ITA Team Indoor Championships.
The Horned Frogs are the No. 3 seed at the Berkeley site, while St. Mary's is the No. 2 seed. Host California is the top seed and will square off against North Texas. The winners of the two Friday matches will face each other Saturday for the chance to advance to the team indoor championships, while the losers will meet in a consolation match.
TCU (1-0) and St. Mary's have never met in the history of their programs. The Gaels (0-1) are ranked 40th in the latest ITA Team Rankings, while TCU is ranked 51st. St. Mary's fell to UCLA in its season opener on Jan. 19.
The Frogs are 1-2 historically against Cal, with their only win coming on March 6, 1980. The Golden Bears are the ninth-ranked team in the nation and have yet to play a match this season.
TCU and No. 60 North Texas (1-1) have met 32 times in program history, making the Mean Green the fourth-most common opponent on TCU's all-time schedule. The Frogs have never lost to the Mean Green in the 32 meetings, including a 6-1 win on Feb. 13, 2008, the last meeting between the two schools.
In the all-time history at the ITA Kickoff Weekend, the Frogs are 3-5, including a trip to the ITA Team Indoor Championships in 2006 after picking up wins over North Texas and Vanderbilt.
The Frogs opened their season with a 7-0 win last Saturday over in-state foe UTPA. Senior Katariina Tuohimaa leads TCU at No. 1 singles and joins sophomore Federica Denti to make up TCU's No. 1 doubles team.
Players Mentioned
