Marshall University Athletics
@Herd_Tennis Travels for ITA Kick-off Weekend
1/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Marshall hits the road for the second week in a row, as it travels to the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on the campus of University of North Carolina Friday and Saturday for the 2016 ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
The Herd will meet Tulsa in Friday’s opening match at 10 a.m., and then face either North Carolina or Yale on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. or 6:30 p.m., depending on results from Friday.
The event includes 60 teams nationally at 15 different sites, and will determine this year’s qualifiers for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships to be held Feb. 5-8 in Madison, Wis.
HAVE YOU HERD?
For the second time this year, Marshall has been selected as one of the top 75 tennis programs in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA). In its recent rankings, the Herd was selected No. 53.
Marshall competed at the Nishan Vartabedian Spring Invitational over the past weekend, and faced Pittsburgh, Akron and Miami (Ohio). Despite a rough start on Day 1, the Herd bounced back on Day 2 taking six out of eight events. On the final day of competition, Marshall claimed three wins.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN HURRICANES
Tulsa enters this weekend coming off a hot start to the 2016 season after it picked up 34 individual wins and only dropping three matches at their Hurricane Invitational. The Golden Hurricane followed with two 4-0 sweeps over Oral Roberts and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
Tulsa is ranked 48th in the recent ITA Tennis Rankings.
SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS
The fifth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels opened its 2016 dual match season with wins over Elon and Appalachian State on Jan. 10. UNC ended the week at the Freeman Memorial Championship in Las Vegas.
At the Freeman Memorial Championship, the Tar Heels were led by sixth-ranked Hayley Carter, who won the singles title in the 32-person field, while also earning the doubles title with Whitney Kay. The duo is the No. 2 ranked tandem in the nation.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
This weekend will be the first competition for the Yale Bulldogs in 2016. In the fall season, Yale competed in four tournaments: Havard Fall Invitational, Bulldog Invitational, USTA/ITA Regional Championship and Wildcat Invitational.
In the initial ranking by the ITA on Jan. 5, the Bulldogs were ranked at No. 68. Tina Jiang enters the season at No. 15 in the Northeast, while the doubles pair of Jiang and Valerie Shklover was picked No. 7 in the region.
#BEHERD
Stay up to date with all Marshall women’s tennis by following on Twitter at @Herd_Tennis or on Facebook at Marshall University Athletics.
