June 3, 2009
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For the second year in a row, Vanderbilt’s men’s tennis team will open its spring slate by playing at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in hopes of securing a spot in the ultra-competitive ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
Through a draft process that took place on Wednesday, Vanderbilt was able to secure one of the 60 available slots, which are divided into 15 sites of four teams. Vanderbilt will join Radford and Yale at Southern California for the Kick-Off Weekend. The Trojans recently won the 2009 National Championship and are one of 15 host institutions.
Because Vanderbilt did not finish the 2009 season ranked in the top 60 nationally or in the top four regionally, the Commodores were selected as the second alternate, significantly lowering the team’s chances of getting a slot in the tournament. However, N.C. State and BYU passed at the opportunity to compete in the tournament, which opened the door for Vanderbilt to get the final spot.
Vanderbilt, Radford, Yale and USC will each play two matches for the right to advance to the ITA National Indoor Championships. The winners of the first two matches will play each other as will the losers of the first two matches.
Last year, Vanderbilt competed at Boise State, where it lost its opening to Auburn, 4-3, before defeating Boise State, 4-3.
The 2010 ITA National Indoor Championship will be Feb. 12-15 at the Boar’s Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.