University of Georgia Athletics
Friday, January 26
Athens, Ga.
2 p.m.
University of Georgia
vs
Michigan State
Bulldogs Set to Host the ITA Kick-Off
January 25, 2018 | Women's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. – The fourth-ranked Georgia women's tennis team is set to take on Michigan State at 2 p.m. on Friday afternoon as part of the 2017 ITA Kick-Off Weekend at the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Courts.
The action begins Friday morning with the first semifinal match between Pennsylvania and Furman at 10 a.m. at the indoor courts, followed by the Georgia-Michigan State match. The consolation match will be played on Saturday at 9 a.m., and the championship will be at 1 p.m.
"We know that there are going to be some great teams here this weekend, and the goal is to make it to the Round of 16 at the Indoor Championships," Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. "It's fortunate that we're playing here at home, and I know our team is super excited to start the dual match season. We have to be ready for some great matches this weekend."
Admission is free. Live scoring/video will be available throughout the tournament: http://gado.gs/8ds
For more information, including dates and times, please follow the link to the tournament website: http://gado.gs/8dr
For the latest on Georgia women's tennis, follow the team on Twitter (@UGAWomensTennis), Instagram (@ugawomenstennis) and on Facebook (UGA Women's Tennis).
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ABOUT THE ITA KICK-OFF
The spring season of collegiate tennis shifts into full gear January 26-29 during the 10th annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Sixty men's and sixty women's teams will be competing across the country for the right to qualify for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships to be hosted in February by the University of Washington on the men's side and the University of Wisconsin on the women's side. Host sites for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend were determined using the final 2016-17 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings, and a draft was held to fill the No.'s 2-4 seeds at all locations. 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 Team Indoor Championships, with a reserved spot for the host institution.
GEORGIA IN THE ITA KICK-OFF
Georgia is 16-0 during an ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Athens and 1-1 on the road (at UNC in 2011). Also since 2009, the ITA has named an All-Tournament team at the national event along with a Most Outstanding Player (MOP) award. In 2009, Georgia's Chelsey Gullickson received MOP honors. All-Tournament Bulldogs include Gullickson at No. 1 singles, Naoko Ueshima at No. 5 (2009), Silvia Garcia at No. 4 (2013), Hannah King at No. 5 (2015) and Caroline Brinson at No. 6 (2015), as well as the Lilly Kimbell-Maho Kowase duo at No. 3 doubles (2012) and the Garcia/Brinson tandem at No. 2 (2016).
LEAGUE PICKS GEORGIA TO WIN SEC TITLE
According to the preseason coaches poll, Georgia is the favorite to win the SEC title. The SEC boasts nine teams in the Oracle/ITA top-25 rankings, the most of any conference. The Bulldogs are joined by No. 2 Vanderbilt and No. 3 Florida in the top-five of the national poll. The SEC poll was voted on by the head coaches at each school and based on a point system.
TOP SINGING CLASS ENTERS FIRST SPRING
The fall season featured four freshmen, who were ranked No. 1 by tennisrecruiting.com: Morgon Coppoc, Annette Goulak, Vivian Wolff, and Katarina Jokic. Jokic posted a team-best 19-3 mark in fall tournament action, and checks in at No. 12 among the singles top-125 list released this past November. The Zrenjanin, Serbia native's ranking is the second-highest for a freshman behind North Carolina's Allie Sanford at No. 9. One of Jokic's fall highlights was winning the ITA Southeast Regional singles title. Coppoc tallied an 11-4 record in the fall and made her debut at No. 55.
RETURNING 2017 ALL-AMERICANS
The Bulldogs return a trio of All-Americans in seniors Kennedy Shaffer and Mariana Gould, as well as sophomore Elena Christofi. Gould and Christofi are both members of top-25 doubles pairs. While the Bulldogs used the fall to experiment with different duos, the top performers were Coppoc and Christofi, along with Jokic and Gould. The Christofi/Coppoc team went 9-5 with six wins over ranked opponents, and made their debut at No. 6 among 60 doubles teams. The freshman-senior duo of Jokic and Gould went 12-3, registering four wins over ranked opponents with a No. 24 ranking.
The action begins Friday morning with the first semifinal match between Pennsylvania and Furman at 10 a.m. at the indoor courts, followed by the Georgia-Michigan State match. The consolation match will be played on Saturday at 9 a.m., and the championship will be at 1 p.m.
"We know that there are going to be some great teams here this weekend, and the goal is to make it to the Round of 16 at the Indoor Championships," Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. "It's fortunate that we're playing here at home, and I know our team is super excited to start the dual match season. We have to be ready for some great matches this weekend."
Admission is free. Live scoring/video will be available throughout the tournament: http://gado.gs/8ds
For more information, including dates and times, please follow the link to the tournament website: http://gado.gs/8dr
For the latest on Georgia women's tennis, follow the team on Twitter (@UGAWomensTennis), Instagram (@ugawomenstennis) and on Facebook (UGA Women's Tennis).
-----
ABOUT THE ITA KICK-OFF
The spring season of collegiate tennis shifts into full gear January 26-29 during the 10th annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Sixty men's and sixty women's teams will be competing across the country for the right to qualify for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships to be hosted in February by the University of Washington on the men's side and the University of Wisconsin on the women's side. Host sites for the ITA Kick-Off Weekend were determined using the final 2016-17 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings, and a draft was held to fill the No.'s 2-4 seeds at all locations. 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 Team Indoor Championships, with a reserved spot for the host institution.
GEORGIA IN THE ITA KICK-OFF
Georgia is 16-0 during an ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Athens and 1-1 on the road (at UNC in 2011). Also since 2009, the ITA has named an All-Tournament team at the national event along with a Most Outstanding Player (MOP) award. In 2009, Georgia's Chelsey Gullickson received MOP honors. All-Tournament Bulldogs include Gullickson at No. 1 singles, Naoko Ueshima at No. 5 (2009), Silvia Garcia at No. 4 (2013), Hannah King at No. 5 (2015) and Caroline Brinson at No. 6 (2015), as well as the Lilly Kimbell-Maho Kowase duo at No. 3 doubles (2012) and the Garcia/Brinson tandem at No. 2 (2016).
LEAGUE PICKS GEORGIA TO WIN SEC TITLE
According to the preseason coaches poll, Georgia is the favorite to win the SEC title. The SEC boasts nine teams in the Oracle/ITA top-25 rankings, the most of any conference. The Bulldogs are joined by No. 2 Vanderbilt and No. 3 Florida in the top-five of the national poll. The SEC poll was voted on by the head coaches at each school and based on a point system.
TOP SINGING CLASS ENTERS FIRST SPRING
The fall season featured four freshmen, who were ranked No. 1 by tennisrecruiting.com: Morgon Coppoc, Annette Goulak, Vivian Wolff, and Katarina Jokic. Jokic posted a team-best 19-3 mark in fall tournament action, and checks in at No. 12 among the singles top-125 list released this past November. The Zrenjanin, Serbia native's ranking is the second-highest for a freshman behind North Carolina's Allie Sanford at No. 9. One of Jokic's fall highlights was winning the ITA Southeast Regional singles title. Coppoc tallied an 11-4 record in the fall and made her debut at No. 55.
RETURNING 2017 ALL-AMERICANS
The Bulldogs return a trio of All-Americans in seniors Kennedy Shaffer and Mariana Gould, as well as sophomore Elena Christofi. Gould and Christofi are both members of top-25 doubles pairs. While the Bulldogs used the fall to experiment with different duos, the top performers were Coppoc and Christofi, along with Jokic and Gould. The Christofi/Coppoc team went 9-5 with six wins over ranked opponents, and made their debut at No. 6 among 60 doubles teams. The freshman-senior duo of Jokic and Gould went 12-3, registering four wins over ranked opponents with a No. 24 ranking.
Players Mentioned
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