Sights Set On Third Straight Kick-Off Win

NORMAN -- The Oklahoma men's tennis team is one of 15 host schools for the 2015 ITA Kick-Off Weekend played Jan. 24-25.

THE EVENT

Kick-Off Weekend features sixty teams from across the country competing at 15 host sites for berths in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, hosted by the University of Illinois Feb. 13-16 in Chicago.

The event sends three visiting schools to a host site for a four-team tournament. The host school faces the No. 4 seed and the No. 2 seed plays the No. 3 seed. The winners of those matches compete for a trip the National Indoors in Chicago. The losing teams will compete in a consolation match.

THE FIELD

The second-ranked Sooners will host No. 28 Northwestern, No. 58 Arkansas and No. 56 New Mexico. Oklahoma faces New Mexico in the first round on Saturday at 2 p.m. while Arkansas and Northwestern square off 9 a.m. The two winning teams will then play at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

SCHEDULE OF PLAY

Saturday, Jan. 24

10 a.m. – No. 28 Northwestern vs. No. 58 Arkansas
2 p.m. – No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 56 New Mexico

Sunday, Jan. 25

10 a.m. – Consolation Match
2 p.m. – Championship Match

IN THE RANKINGS

The Oklahoma roster currently features four individual players and one doubles team ranked in the top 50. Junior Axel Alvarez is the highest ranked Sooner at No. 14. Sophomore Andrew Harris comes is at No. 20, senior Dane Webb sits at No. 33 and sophomore Alex Ghilea rounds out the singles rankings for Oklahoma at No. 50. The doubles pair of Alvarez and Webb is currently ranked 38^th. The duo boasts a 4-0 record in the spring and has recorded three wins over teams ranked in the top-20.

There are two other ranked players in the field. New Mexico is led by No. 41 Samir Iftikhar while Northwestern's roster features No. 108 Strong Kircheimer.

THREE IN A ROW?

Oklahoma is looking to punch its ticket to the ITA National Indoor Championships for the third straight year. As the host school last year, Oklahoma topped Virginia Tech 4-1 to advance to the championship match on day two. In the championship match the Sooners swept Northwestern 4-0 to secure a place in the national tournament.

LAST TIME OUT

The Sooners are fresh off a 6-1 win over Wichita State in their home opener on Tuesday. OU won two doubles matches and led in the third to claim the doubles points and then won five of the six matches, dropping just two sets, to claim the match. Oklahoma has now won its home opener in seven straight seasons dating back to 2009.