Special from
Division3Tennis.com
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It is my pleasure to bring to you a preview of the 2015 ITA Division III National Women's Team Indoor Championships! The ITA Women's Indoor Championships is a fairly new event, with the first tournament taking place in 2009. It has been held each year at either Gustavus Adolphus or DePauw, and this year DePauw will host. Johns Hopkins has won the last two tournaments, and they were rewarded with the ITA No. 1 ranking in the ranking period immediately following the tournament both years.
Theoretically, the the event fields the Top 8 teams in the country. However, teams in the
NESCAC Conference, arguably the strongest conference in the nation, cannot participate due to conference rules which prohibit match play before the second weekend in March. Also, since neither the ITA nor the NCAA provides any monetary assistance/reward, some teams simply cannot add another budget item to their schedule (especially one that requires flying) on the short notice provided to the schools. Additionally, some teams just can't add three more dates of competition to their schedule since NCAA Division III limits teams to 20 dates of competition.
Looking at the list of teams (other than NESCAC) that had to decline, it looks as though the Indiana location might have been a factor in the decision for a few stronger institutions - Emory, CMS, Pomona, MIT, La Verne, Redlands - to decline. Perhaps the ITA would consider moving the site of the tournament for more access and opportunity, given that these matches have a significant impact on team rankings?
In any case, this is a great high-level tournament to assess the national scene early on in the season. It's always exciting to see the top teams from different regions square off against each other in high stakes matches. It's also a great and valuable experience for the players to play in this kind of pressure, and is sure to pay off during the course of the season and into the championships.
On to the Field!
The Field This year's field consists of eight teams ranked in the No. 4 to No. 21 range. Below I'll give a brief synopsis of each team participating in the tournament.
No. 8 seed Sewanee (No. 21 nationally)
This is Sewanee's first appearance in the tournament! The Tigers start off with a bang playing against the No. 1 seed, Hopkins. I don't think Sewanee will be able to win that match (some matches can be close though!) But they have the capabilities and talent to have a couple of good matches in the consolation draw.
No. 7 seed Washington & Lee (No. 20 nationally)
This is Washington & Lee's fourth appearance in the tournament, and they won the title in 2012. Although the Generals are the #7 seed, they will be one of the tougher teams in the draw. Not only do they generally play good doubles, they have good depth in their singles lineup - depending on who's in it.
