ITA Kick-Off Weekend
STOCKTON, Calif. – Pacific faces No. 12-ranked TCU on Saturday in the semifinals of the TCU Regional. First serve from the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center is set for 11 a.m. PT.
The match is part of the ninth annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
"I believe this team has a tremendous amount of potential, and this is just another opportunity to improve on our craft and play in front a nice crowd against one of the best teams in the country and a great coaching staff," Pacific coach Ryan Redondo said. "Their top two players have done very well professionally, and that's the challenge we strive to measure ourselves against. It's going to be a great battle."
TCU (1-1) is the No. 1 seed in the four-team pod and will face the No. 4 seed Pacific (2-0), on Saturday at 1 p.m., on the Bernard J. 'Tut' Bartzen Varsity Courts. Utah State (2-3), the No. 2 seed, and Wichita State (0-2), the No. 3 seed, will face off in the other semifinal match on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Admission to all matches during the weekend is free.
TCU is one of 15 men's tennis regional site hosts.
The winners of each match will play on Sunday for a berth to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Charlottesville, Va., which takes place Feb. 17-20.
Pacific enters the weekend matches undefeated after taking two 4-3 victories over UC Davis Jan. 14 at the Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center. Alex Giannini leads the Tigers with a 7-3 singles mark and is currently riding a five-match winning streak. Tadiwa Chinamo won both singles matches in the wins over UC Davis and sits at 4-2 on the season.
Live scoring of select matches will be available through PacificTigers.com.
The ninth annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend takes place Jan. 27-29, 2017, at 23 different Division I tennis facilities across the country. In all, there are 60 teams competing per gender in Kick-Off Weekend events.
There are 15 "regionals" played on both the men's and women's side, with four teams competing in each regional. The winners of the single-elimination event advance to next month's ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships. Yale (women's) and Virginia (men's) will serve as hosts for the National Team Indoors and received automatic invitations to the event and are exempt from competing in the Kick-Off Weekend.
Host sites for Kick-Off Weekend were determined using the final 2015-16 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. A draft was held to fill the No.'s 2-4 seeds at all locations, again using the final national team rankings as a guide to determine draft order.
Opening round contests at each location pits the No. 1 seed versus the No. 4 seed, and the No. 2 seed against the No. 3 seed. The two winners advance to the following day's championship match, while the two losing teams will square off in a consolation match.
Last year, 13 of the 15 men's No. 1 seeds and 12 of the 15 women's No. 1 seeds advanced to National Team Indoors. North Carolina (men) and Cal (women) went on to win the 2016 ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships, respectively.
2017 ITA Kick-Off Weekend - TCU Regional
Jan. 28 - Semifinals
No. 1-seed TCU vs. No. 4-seed Pacific – 11 a.m. PT
No. 2-seed Utah State vs. No. 3-seed Wichita State – 11 a.m.
Jan. 29
Championship - TBA vs. TBA – 10 a.m.
Consolation - TBA vs. TBA – 10 a.m.
