Jan. 30, 2009
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The 12th-ranked Vanderbilt women’s tennis team will open its home spring slate this weekend when they host Denver, Fresno State and Wake Forest in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kick-Off Weekend at the Currey Tennis Center, Jan. 31-Feb 1.
All three of the teams competing against Vanderbilt enter the weekend ranked among the nation’s top-40, Fresno State (15), Denver (31) and Wake Forest (40). The Commodores are one of 15 teams across the nation hosting the ITA event.
The four-team meet will be played in a dual meet setting with each team holding a seed. Vanderbilt is the No. 1 seed followed by Fresno State, Denver and Wake Forest.
The Commodores will take on Wake Forest in their first round match at 2 p.m. Saturday. If the `Dores defeat the Demon Deacons, they will face the winner of the Denver-Fresno State match at 2 p.m. Sunday. If Vanderbilt loses it first round match, it will square off against the loser of the Denver-Fresno State match at 10 a.m. Sunday.
The team that finishes the weekend 2-0 will advance to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships Feb. 13-16 in Madison, Wis.
VU is fresh off a solid performance at the Michigan Invitational where it competed against three top-25 teams in Duke (8), Michigan (19) and Tennessee (23).
The `Dores experienced some highs and lows in the first meet of the season as they competed without upperclassmen and team leaders Catherine Newman and Courtney Ulery. Vanderbilt head coach Geoff Macdonald said the team took some positives away from Ann Arbor, Mich.
“We came through with some good wins that weekend, and we experienced some tough losses that we learned from,” Macdonald said. “The experience we got, especially for our younger players, was irreplaceable.”
ITA Kick-Off Weekend Schedule
Saturday, Jan. 31
10:00 a.m. Denver vs. Fresno State
2:00 p.m. Wake Forest vs. Vanderbilt
Sunday, Feb. 1
10:00 a.m. Losers of Match 1 & 2
2:00 p.m. Winners of Match 1 & 2