University of Illinois
Virginia Tech
Fighting Illini Head to Texas for ITA Kick-Off Weekend
January 21, 2016 | Women's Tennis
No. 58 Illinois in search of bid to ITA National Team Indoor Championships
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URBANA, Ill. – After opening the 2016 dual season with a pair of victories at the Atkins Tennis Center, the Illinois women's tennis team heads to Lubbock, Texas, to participate in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend on Saturday, Jan. 23, and Sunday, Jan. 24 on the campus of Texas Tech. UI will face No. 30 Virginia Tech in the weekend's opening match and either No. 17 Texas Tech or No. 60 Oregon in Sunday's match.
The last time that Illinois participated in the Kick-Off Weekend was the 2013 season when the Fighting Illini selected to play in the Ole Miss campus site. UI participated in the event every season from 2009 through 2013.
Teams are guaranteed two matches in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend action. With four teams in each Kick-Off Weekend campus site, the winning teams will go on to face each other, as will the losing teams. The team that wins both of its matches at the campus site will earn a bid to play at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
This year, the Women's Team Indoor Championships will be held in Madison, Wisconsin, from Feb. 5-8. Winners from the 15 campus sites will advance to the Team Indoor Championships. Filling the final spot will be Wisconsin, who automatically earns a bid to this year's event as the host school.
The UI and Virginia Tech women's tennis programs have never crossed paths, marking Saturday's match as the first meeting between the sides. If Illinois faces Texas Tech in the second match of the event, it would also be the first meeting between those two teams. The Orange and Blue and Oregon have met just once, with the Ducks taking the match by a 4-3 decision at a neutral site in 2003.
This will mark the first time that anyone on the Fighting Illini roster competes in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
ITA Kick-Off Weekend action will mark the first dual matches of the 2016 season for both Texas Tech and Oregon as the teams competed in individual tournaments earlier in January. Virginia Tech opened dual play the same day as the Illini (Jan. 16) with a double header, starting the season 2-0.
For more coverage of the Orange and Blue visit FIGHTINGILLINI.com and be sure to follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
