Clemson Women’s Tennis to Host ITA Kick-Off Weekend

Jan. 30, 2010

CLEMSON, S.C. – Tennis fans in the upstate area will be treated to an elite spectacle, as four top-40 ranked women’s tennis teams descend on Clemson for the 2010 ITA Kick-Off Weekend. 14^th-ranked Clemson headlines the region, and is joined by #20 Mississippi, #32 Illinois, and #37 Texas A&M.

ITA Kick-Off Home Page

The Kick-Off Weekend serves as the first two rounds of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, held in Madison, WI on Feb. 12-15. Mississippi and Illinois will play at 9:00 am at the Clemson Indoor Tennis Center, followed by Clemson and Texas A&M squaring off at 2:00 pm. The winning teams will play at 2:00 pm on Sunday for a spot in Madison, while the losers will play a consolation match at 9:00 am.

The four teams feature ten nationally-ranked singles players, led by Clemson’s Josipa Bek, who is ranked 9^th nationally. Illinois’ Rachael White is the next-highest ranked player at 33^rd, while Kristi Boxx of Ole Miss is #40 overall.

The Tigers are off to a 3-0 start on the young season, defeating #68 College of Charleston (7-0), #43 Virginia Commonwealth (5-2), and Troy University (5-2).

Clemson is one of nine ACC teams in the 61-team field, and one of four host sites residing from the powerful conference. Last season, 12 of the 15 host institutions made the trip to the University of Wisconsin, who earns an automatic bid by virtue of hosting.

The 11^th-ranked Tigers defeated Boise State, 4-1, and #26 Auburn 4-3 to advance to the final Sixteen. Clemson then matched up with #2 California, who beat the Tigers, 4-3. The Tigers then defeated #13 Fresno State, 5-2, but fell to another top-ten team, #9 Southern California, 4-3, in their final match of the tournament. This came during a stretch in which the Tigers played seven out of eight matches against top-20 teams.

Head coach Nancy Harris is only four wins away from 200 at Clemson, and only eight away from her 400^th overall career victory.

Additionally, Ina Hadziselimovic needs one win to tie Laurie Stephen for 10^th on Clemson all-time doubles wins list with 84. The school record is 100, held by Jodi Trucks.