Jan. 24, 2013

College Station, Texas -

No. 30 Arizona women’s tennis will travel to College Station, Texas this weekend for the 2013 ITA Kick-Off Weekend.

Arizona will play No. 41 Minnesota at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 26 and either No. 13 Texas A&M, or No. 54 North Texas on Sunday, Jan. 27.

Arizona head coach Vicky Maes and her squad will participate in their second-consecutive ITA Kick-Off.

Last season, Arizona traveled to Nashville, Tenn., for the event. The Wildcats dropped both of their matches to Vanderbilt, 4-3, and Alabama, 4-1.

Current junior Susan Mc Rann (Dublin, Ireland) recorded wins for doubles play in both matches. Juniors Lacey Smyth (Oceanside, Calif.), Kim Stubbe (Mol Belgium) and sophomore Laura Oldham (Sheffield, England) also competed last year and are expected to play this weekend.

The Wildcats are coming off two home victories over NAU and UC Davis, both by a score of 6-1.

The matches marked the debut of UA freshmen Shayne Austin (Oak Park, Calif.), Inge Hendrikx (Zundert, The Netherlands) and junior Akilah James (Brooklyn, N.Y.). All three players recorded wins in singles and/or doubles play.

Like the Wildcats, Minnesota stands at 2-0 after defeating Marquette and Montana to start its spring season. Junior Natalia Pintusava, sophomore Tereza Brichacova and freshman Jessika Mozia will lead the Gophers.

Texas A&M will officially start their spring season with this weekend after placing fourth in their preseason Miami Invite tournament in Coral Gables, Fla. No. 3 Crisitina Sanchez-Quintanar, No. 45 Cristina Stancu and No. 82 Wen Sun are the Aggies’ top players.

North Texas’s spring season will also start this weekend. Seniors Barbora Vykydalova and Llona Serchenko will lead the Mean Green.

For immediate results and continued coverage of Arizona Women’s Tennis, visit ArizonaWildcats.com, or follow @ArizonaWTennis on Twitter.

-- ArizonaWildcats.com --