After winning the ITA Central Region Team Playoff in October, the University of New Mexico women’s tennis team has been anxiously waiting to hear if its was one of the 16 teams selected to compete at the ITA National Indoor Championships this February. The Lobos don’t have to wait anymore as the ITA announced recently that New Mexico will be participating in the nationally respected event.
The National Indoor Championships will be held February 3-6 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. The tournament is second on UNM’s 2005 spring schedule. Before traveling to Wisconsin, New Mexico will be in Tempe, Ariz. Jan. 29 to play Arizona State in its first regular season dual match of 2005.
UNM who received a final national ranking of No. 31 in 2004 will compete with top teams from around the country including, No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 Vanderbilt, No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Clemson, No. 6 Duke, No. 7 Georgia, No. 8 Southern California, No. 9 Washington, No. 10 Northwestern, No. 11 Tulane, No. 15 Miami (Fla.), No.16 Kentucky, No. 16 North Carolina, No. 38 Harvard and host school No. 49 Wisconsin. All of these team rankings were given at the end of the 2004 season as well.
This past October, the Lobos increased their chances of earning a bid to the indoor by winning the entire Central Regional Team Playoff at the Lobos Tennis Club. They defeated Tulsa and Mountain West Conference competitor BYU for the playoff victory.
For more information on the ITA National Indoor Championships, visit www.itatennis.com.