ITA Women: UCLA Stunned, Ohio State Claims 1st NTI Berth

14 of the 15 ITA Kickoff Regionals saw play today, with Cal struggling with rain for the second consecutive day. Five Regionals were completed with 3 No.1 seeds, a No.2 seed and a surprise No.3 seed claiming final victories to join Wisconsin at the ITA National Team Indoor, being held February 5-8 in Madison, WI.

#5 North Carolina Regional: Tar Heels Dominate Singles

The UNC Tar Heels, the reigning NTI champions, looked in good form today, blanking #48 Tulsa 4-0 to advance to Madison. UNC dropped only 10 games in their 5 completed first sets, with the No.4 match in a tiebreaker when play was called. Maria Akkerman was the star of the weekend, losing just three games in her two matches combined. Hayley Carter continued to impress this weekend and Whitney Kay did a complete 180 from yesterday to completely rout her ranked opponent. In the 3rd/4th playoff, #53 Marshall rallied from 1-3 down to take out #68 Yale, with the Herd claiming the win at No.1.

ITA Women: Top Seeds Cruise In Friday's ITA Kickoff

Six of the ITA Kickoff Regionals began today and all No.1 seeds cruised without much difficulty. Fresno State was the lone No.3 seed to earn a scalp into tomorrow's final. UGA and UNC were the top 2 teams to play and routed Wyoming and Yale, respectively. The closest match of the weekend, ranking-wise, was No.18 Ohio State's 4-3 thriller over No.19 Pepperdine. Tomorrow should bring some tighter matches and a few upsets. For my predictions for the entire weekend, check out my preview here.