2014 ITA Kick-Off Weekend Wraps Up  

30 men's and women's teams advance to ITA National Indoor Championships

Four top seeds fell over the weekend on the men's side, marking the most on the men's side in ITA Kick-Off Weekend history. It was smooth sailing for No. 1 Virginia, No. 2 UCLA and No. 4 USC, as all three teams cruised past both opponents without dropping an individual match.

Tennessee senior Jarryd Chaplin clinched the Vols' 4-0 win over VCU in 2014 ITA Kick-Off Weekend action. Photo: Andrew Bruckse, Tennessee Athletics

No. 3 Georgia, however, was pushed to the limit in a 4-2 win over No. 43 Columbia in the semifinals. After cruising to a 6-0 win in the first set, Bulldogs senior Hernus Pieters dropped the second set before taking the third set in a crucial tiebreaker to clinch the team win. The Bulldogs went on to defeat Stanford, 4-1, in the finals to advance to the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship.

Mississippi State was also pushed to the edge of defeat in the semifinals by fourth-seeded Harvard. The Crimson captured the doubles point, as they did in a 4-1 loss at the 2013 NCAA Team Championships. This time, however, Harvard kept the pressure on during singles. Harvard's Andrew Ball knotted the team match at 3-all with a three-set win from a set down at fifth singles, before Bulldogs senior Zach White battled back from deficits in both the first and third set of a 6-4, 5-6 (1), 6-3 win to clinch the team match. Mississippi State went on to defeat Memphis, 4-2, to earn a berth in the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship.

Duke rebounded from a tough start to the spring to win both matches over the weekend against Oregon and North Carolina, respectively, to qualify for a place at Texas A&M. The Blue Devils had previously dropped matches to Elon and Kentucky shortly before the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, causing a 10-spot drop in the ITA Division I Men's Team Rankings. Kentucky, however, was unable to continue momentum, losing a tight 4-3 match to Notre Dame in the finals. Freshman Eddy Covalschi captured the final two games in a 6-3, 5-6 (5), 6-4 win at No. 6 singles to complete the upset.

USC's Max de Vroome (left) and Eric Johnson in doubles action as the USC Trojans defeated Wichita State 4-0 to win. Photo: John McGillen

Third-seeded Michigan and fourth-seeded Illinois knocked off No. 10 Ole Miss and No. 25 Clemson, respectively, to set up a final in which the Illini prevailed 4-1 to become one of two No. 4 seeds to advance to the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships. Texas also made noise from the No. 4 spot, flooring Vanderbilt, 4-0, in the first round before edging Wake Forest in the finals. Junior Clement Homs fought back from 5-2 down in the final set of the deciding match to earn a 2-6, 6-4, 6-5 (3) triumph and a Longhorns victory.

Cal provided the fourth and final upset of the weekend, knocking off No. 12 Pepperdine, 4-2. The Bears trailed 2-0 early on before earning four straight singles victories to earn their berth in the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship.

On the women's side the top seeds mostly advanced with ease, with the highest ranked team in the ITA Division I Women's Team Rankings winning all 15 events.

Alabama's Natalia Maynetto clinched the Tide's return to the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship. Photo: Courtney M. Gage UA Athletics

No. 2 Florida did not drop an individual match in both its Kick-Off Weekend matches in beating No. 70 Louisville and No. 67 Harvard. Meanwhile, No. 3 North Carolina, the defending champions, clinched their return to the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championships with a 4-0 win over No. 62 Denver and a 4-1 victory over No. 31 Memphis. No. 5 UCLA also advanced to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship with a 4-0 win over No. 38 UC Irvine and a 4-1 defeat of No. 30 TCU in the final, while No. 6 USC took out No. 60 North Texas, 4-0, before besting No. 37 Saint Mary's, 4-0, to seal their berth to Charlottesville.

The only top seed to fall during ITA Women's Kick-Off Weekend action was No. 25 Nebraska, who lost to No. 19 Georgia Tech, 4-1 in Lincoln. No. 16 Vanderbilt, the No. 3 seed, then ousted the Yellow Jackets 4-3, winning the last two singles matches to advance to the team indoors for the second year in a row. Sophomore Georgina Sellyn clinched the match for the Commodores, winning the third-set super-tiebreak 10-5 for the fourth point for her team.

Another dramatic win during the weekend was No. 12 Alabama's come-from-behind win over No. 34 Oklahoma. The Crimson Tide fell behind 2-0 but took the lead 3-2 after winning three singles matches, all in third-set supertiebreakers. Senior Mary Ann Daines had a chance to clinch the win, but she lost a heartbreaker, 7-6, 6-7, 1-0 (10-5), to Sooner Hermon Brhane to even the match score at 3-3. The final match came down to Alabama's sophomore Natalia Maynetto against Sooner junior Abbie Melrose, and again Maynetto clinched her team's Kick-Off Weekend win as she did in 2013, this time in a third set supertiebreaker to help Alabama advance to its second straight ITA National Team Indoor Championship.

The Vanderbilt women's team advanced to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship after its 4-3 win over Georgia Tech.

The 15 women's teams that emerged from the 2014 ITA Kick-Off Weekend, along with the Virginia women's team, now have their sights set on Charlottesville, Virginia, where the University of Virginia will host the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship from February 7-10 at the Boar's Head Sports Club. The 15 men's teams that advanced this past weekend, along with the Texas A&M men's team, will head to Houston, Texas, where Texas A&M will play host for the 2014 ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship from February 14-17.

To see full results from all 2014 ITA Kick-off Weekend action, please visit the results page here. To view photos from the weekend, please visit the ITA Facebook album here.

About ITA Kick-Off Weekend: 

The ITA Kick-Off Weekend events were created in 2009 as qualifiers for the ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships. Sixty schools compete for the remaining 15 spots in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, with a reserved spot for the host institution. After host sites are named, a draft is held with schools selecting which site to play at in order of year-end ITA Team Rankings.