WTEN Central: ITA Kick-Off Weekend

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee women's tennis team travels to Lawrence, Kansas, to compete in its eighth ITA Kick-Off Weekend.

"We've had productive two days of practice and are prepared for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Kansas," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "Coach (Pat) Summitt used to schedule some of the toughest competition in the country so the team could see where it was at, what they needed to work on and what they are doing well. That's exactly what this weekend is for us. An opportunity to compete against top-20 schools and learn a lot more about who our Lady Vols are. One thing I know for sure… we have a burning desire to do what's necessary to win."

The No. 22 Lady Vols (2-0) will open the weekend with a duel against No. 19 Kansas (2-0) on Friday at 1 p.m. ET. The winner of the matchup between UT and the Jayhawks will face the winner of No. 17 Cal (0-0) and No. 20 Virginia (1-0) on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET. A consolation match is slated for 2 p.m. ET.

The overall victor of the weekend will advance to the Oracle ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Chicago, Illinois.

Tennessee is 9-5 all-time in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, defeating Florida State and falling to LSU in last year's event. The Lady Vols look to advance out of Kick-Off Weekend for the first time since 2012.

Coverage: A complete recap of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend will be posted to UTSports.com following each dual match. You can follow @Vol_WTennis on Twitter for live updates.

Last Time Out: The Lady Vols competed in the Michigan Invitational last weekend. Johanna Silva highlighted the event, going 3-0 in Ann Arbor.

Inside the Series: UT has an all-time 4-1 record against Kansas. Friday's matchup marks their first meeting in Lawrence.

Against Cal, UT is 0-2 all-time, with their last matchup in 1993 at the ITCA National Indoors in Madison, Wisconsin. The Lady Vols have met Virginia 10 times, with UT holding a 7-3 advantage.

Hot Hand: Silva rides a season-long, five-match winning streak heading into the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The senior won two matches against North Alabama and three at the Michigan Invitational.

Freshman Start Fast: UT freshmen Carly Briggs, Callie Creath and Hadley Doyle have started off their inaugural spring campaigns on a high note. Doyle and Briggs, who were added to the Lady Vols' roster in early January, both own 4-1 records less than one month into their collegiate careers. Creath holds a 3-2 mark in the month of January.

In the Rankings

Singles
No. 20 Valentina Ivanov (Cal)
No. 21 Haley Giavara (Cal)
No. 30 Natasha Subhash (UV)
No. 35 Rosie Johanson (UV)
No. 45 Julia Rosenqvist (Cal)
No. 63 Sonia Smagina (KU)
No. 72 Kaitlin Staines (UT)
No. 76 Rebeka Mertena (UT)
No. 78 Sofia Munera (UV)
No. 93 Malkia Ngounoue (KU)
No. 100 Anna Bright (Cal)

Doubles
No. 13 Anna Bright/Haley Giavara (Cal)
No. 15 Kaitlin Staines/Tenika McGiffin (UT)
No. 42 Sonia Smagina/Carmen Roxana Manu (KU)
No. 55 Anna Bright/Valentina Ivanov (Cal)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Carly Briggs

Callie Creath

Hadley Doyle

Tenika McGiffin

Rebeka Mertena

Johanna Silva

Kaitlin Staines

University of Tennessee Athletics