ITA Kick-Off Weekend Headed to TCU
6/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
FORT WORTH, Texas -- For the first time in TCU tennis program history, both the men's and women's tennis teams will serve as hosts for the 2016 ITA Kick-Off Weekend from Jan. 22-24 at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
The women's matches will take place from Jan. 22-24 and the host Horned Frogs will be joined by Ohio State, Pepperdine and Houston. The men's competition will he held on Jan. 23-24 and TCU will welcome Oklahoma State, Harvard and San Diego State.
The ITA Kickoff Weekend was created in 2009 as a qualifier for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Sixty schools compete for the remaining 15 spots in the national tournament, with a reserved spot for the host institution. After ITA Kickoff Weekend host sites are named, a draft is held with schools selecting which site to play at in order of year-end ITA team rankings.
The No. 1 and No. 4 seeds and the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds will play in the first round with the two winners to play a deciding second round match for a bid to the prestigious National Indoor Championships, which will be hosted by Virginia on the men's side on Feb. 12-15 at the Boar's Head Inn Tennis Center. The women's tournament will be held at Wisconsin on Feb. 5-8 at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
The TCU women's tennis team has made appearances in the National Indoor competition three times in program history, including this past year when the team defeated Houston and Texas A&M to reach the Sweet 16 and then upended Duke to make the quarterfinals.
The men's team has made it to National Indoors on 12 occasions, which includes this past year as well. The 2015 season marked the first time the team advanced out of the Kick-Off Weekend and its first appearance at National Indoors since 2001.
2016 ITA Kick-Off Weekend Schedule (All times Central)
Friday Jan. 22
10 a.m. Women's: Ohio State vs. Pepperdine
2 p.m. Women's: TCU vs. Houston
Saturday Jan. 23
10 a.m. Men's: Oklahoma State vs. Harvard
1 p.m. Men's: TCU vs. San Diego State
4 p.m. Women's Championship
Sunday, Jan. 24
10 a.m. Women's Consolation
1 p.m. Men's Consolation
4 p.m. Men's Championship
