Razorbacks Head to Virginia for ITA Kickoff Weekend

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas women’s tennis team (3-0) will face No. 16 Stanford (1-0) on Friday in the ITA Kickoff Weekend as part of a four-team regional hosted by Virginia. The Razorbacks will take on the Cardinals at 5 p.m. CT following a matchup between No. 9 Virginia and James Madison at 2 p.m. CT.

The winners of Saturday’s matches will face off on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. CT, vying for a spot at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships being held Feb. 11-14 in Madison, Wisc. The championship match will be followed by a consolation match at 5:30 p.m. CT.

The Razorbacks started out their dual match season 3-0 for the second-straight year with wins over Central Arkansas, Kansas City and Austin Peay. Graduate student Tatum Rice made her debut at the No.1 position for the Razorbacks, remaining perfect with three straight-set wins. In doubles, Rice and Cross continued their dominance on court one for Arkansas, improving to 11-3 this season. Sophomore Indianna Spink had an impressive start as well, winning all three singles matches at the No.2 position and all three of her doubles matches this past weekend.

Stanford appears at No. 16 in the latest ITA national rankings following a 1-0 start with a sweep over UC Davis. Arkansas last faced Stanford at the 2011 ITA National Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va. where the No. 1 Cardinals defeated the No. 19 Razorbacks 4-0 in the Round of 16, going on the claim the championship.

The Cardinals are led by No. 9 freshman Connie Ma who won both the singles and doubles titles at ITA Regionals in the fall and advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA National Fall Championships. Ma is 1-0 to start the dual season at the No. 1 position with 13 wins so far this season. The freshman Alexandra Yepifanova is currently ranked No. 21 and leads the Cardinals with 14 victories this season, starting 1-0 at the No. 2 position. The No. 38 ranked doubles tandem of Connie Ma and Angelica Blake advanced to the round of 16 at the ITA National Fall Championships and are 13-2 overall this season.

Virginia (3-0) dropped two spots from the ITA pre-season rankings to No. 9 following three sweeps at home. The Cavaliers have three singles players in the rankings; No. 29 Natasha Subhash, No. 66 Melodie Collard and No. 90 Elaine Chervinsky. Junior Natasha Subhash is 2-0 this spring, having played at the No.2 and No. 3 position in the Cavaliers’ lineup. The freshman Chervinsky has had two clean 6-0, 6-0 victories in her last two matches to improve to 12-7 overall. Collard and Hibah Shaikh team up for doubles as the No. 14 duo in the nation, but have not played together this dual season.

James Madison (1-0) started the dual season with a 7-0 win over Georgetown at home. Junior Daria Afanasyeva appears at the No. 1 position for the Dukes with a 7-4 overall record. Afanasyeva and junior Kylie Moulin highlight the Dukes’ doubles lineup on court one, dropping their fourth match as a duo this season.

All four matches are available for fans to watch for free, via Playsight.

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