University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers to be Tested at ITA Kick-Off
1/22/2015 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
Live Scoring | ITA Kick-Off Weekend Event Page
After starting 2-0 for the fourth-straight season, the 2015 Minnesota women's tennis team will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C. to compete in the seventh annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The Gophers will play No. 3 North Carolina Saturday at 11 a.m. CT and will take on either LSU or Boston College Sunday in Chapel Hill. The team to win both of its matches will earn a spot at the ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va. in February.
ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina, ranked third in the nation coming off a season in which it reached the NCAA championship match, is off to a 2-0 start in 2015 after defeating Elon and Appalachian State. The Tar Heels boast a singles lineup with three highly-ranked singles players in No. 8 Jamie Loeb, No. 22 Caroline Price and No. 31 Hayley Carter. Additionally, Ashley Dai, who had a No. 70 preseason singles ranking, is slotted at No. 13 in doubles with Kate Vialle.
ABOUT LSU
No. 37 LSU enters its Saturday matchup with Boston College after taking down McNeese State and Southern in its first week of play. The Tigers finished 2014 with a 14-14 record and fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after a run to the SEC quarterfinal. LSU, which has just one senior, has four players ranked in singles. Sophomore Joana Vale Costa leads the way at No. 28, while junior Skylar Kuykendall is 65th and second-year player Abigail Owens is 74th. Lone senior Noel Scott is No. 115. Doubles pairings of Vale Costa and Scott and Kuykendall and Owens have both played at No. 1.
ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE
After starting the season ranked 49th, Boston College dropped 10 spots to No. 59 following a 4-3 loss to now-No. 63 Dartmouth. BC was 14-10 in 2014, bowing out in the second round of the ACC Tournament. Occupying the top two singles spots for the Eagles in their match against the Big Green were ranked players in No. 61-ranked senior Jessica Wacnik and No. 103-ranked sophomore Lexi Borr. Wacnik and Borr also teamed up for a victory at the No. 1 doubles position.
ALL-TIME SERIES
In 13 meetings with North Carolina, the Gophers have yet to win a match. The Tar Heels grabbed a 7-0 win in the teams' last match in 2011 in Raleigh, N.C. The Gophers are 1-4 against LSU and 2-1 against Boston College, all-time, and won their last contest against each team. The Maroon and Gold topped the Tigers on the road, 4-3, in 2012 and downed the Eagles by a score of 5-2 at home in 2005. Current senior Aria Lambert won a straight-set singles match at the No. 6 spot against LSU.
ALL-TIME AT ITA KICK-OFF WEEKEND
Minnesota is competing at ITA Kick-Off Weekend for the third time, having gone 0-4 in its previous two appearances. The Gophers lost to UCLA and DePaul in Los Angeles in 2009 and dropped matches against Arizona and North Texas in College Station, Texas in 2013.
UP AND COMING
Minnesota is looking to build upon a successful 2014 campaign. Last year, the Gophers posted their highest win total since 2003 at 17 and recorded their highest conference win total since the same year with six. After beginning last season unranked, the Maroon and Gold climbed as high at 55th en route to a seven-win improvement from the previous season. This season, the Maroon and Gold began the year at No. 71 in the national rankings and are now No. 73.
HOT STARTS
The Gophers have won their first two matches in each of the last three seasons, including Chuck Merzbacher's first two seasons as the team's head coach. Last year, the team opened with dominating wins over Eastern Michigan and Northern Iowa before running its record to 4-0 for the first time since 1997.
FRESH IMPACT
The Gophers freshman class consists of only two members, but both players are expected to impact the team immediately. Last weekend, Caroline Ryba won both of her matches at the No. 1 singles position, becoming the first Gopher freshman to win a singles match in the top spot against a Division I opponent since Natallia Pintusava accomplished the feat on April 3, 2011. Mehvish Safdar teamed up with senior Tereza Brichacova to win twice at No. 1 doubles flight. In the ITA's Central Region Ryba is ranked 13th in singles, while Safdar and Brichacova are seventh in doubles.
TOUGH AT HOME
The Baseline Tennis Center has been a tough place to play for visitors over the past two seasons. The Gophers are 17-8 at home under Chuck Merzbacher, including 8-3 last year. On the road, the Gophers were 0-8 in 2013, but improved to 7-2 last year. Minnesota's first road match of will be their ITA Kick-Off opener against North Carolina. They next play at home Feb. 20 against Drake.
RETURNING TALENT
Minnesota lost three-time All-Big Ten selection Natallia Pintusava, as well as Yuliana Umanets and Pauline Gilbert, but returns several key players from a year ago. All-conference honoree Tereza Brichacova won 10 singles matches at the No. 1 position last year. The senior Czech Republic native is one of three Gophers with 50 or more career singles wins (53). That list also includes Aria Lambert (64), Jessika Mozia (55) and Julia (51).
HOW THE SCORING WORKS
No-ad scoring will be used in both singles and doubles. Three doubles matches will be played to begin the dual. Each match is one set to six, with a tie-break at six-all. The first team to earn two doubles wins earns one team point. Doubles play will followed by six singles matches (best two of three sets--tie-breaks at six-all). Each singles match is worth one team point.
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