THE ITA INDOOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
This weekend will feature eight of the top men's Division II teams taking part in a three day tournament to crown an ITA indoor national champion.
The top seven teams from the 2024-25 Final ITA Division II National Rankings received an invite with one spot reserved for the University of Indianapolis. In the case of a decline, the next team in the rankings is selected until the field of eight is solidified.
This year's field will consist of Barry, Flagler, West Florida, Lubbock Christian, Washburn, UT Tyler, Azusa Pacific, and Indianapolis.
Action begins on Friday, with #6 seed UT Tyler taking on #3 seed West Florida, #2 seed Flagler and #7 seed Azusa Pacific, #4 seed Lubbock Christian and #5 seed Washburn, and #1 seed Barry against #8 seed Indianapolis.
Teams will play three matches over the course of the weekend, with the winners from the first two days moving into a championship match to be played on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
THE START OF THE YEAR
The Patriots played two matches last week, one against Northeastern State and one against Southwestern Baptist. The Patriots won both in scores of 7-0, winning in dominant fashion as no match went to a third set on either day and only one went to a tiebreaker at any point.
EARLY RECOGNITION
Both the UT Tyler men and women's programs are ranked inside the top 25 of the ITA Preseason Coaches Poll to begin the year. The men are ranked 7
th as they look to follow up their 2025 season that saw them make the NCAA Semifinals. The women are 18
th as they look to follow up their first ever LSC Championship match appearance with another strong season.
THE FALL SLATE
The fall slate was one of the best of the Division II era for the program, with both teams sending players to the ITA Cup. The women's pair of
Natalia Gorzny and
Yona Bancarel became the first Patriots women to represent the program at the ITA Cup in the Division II era, and the doubles pair of
Daniil Felker and
Carel Wessel along with singles player
Malo Poulesquen represented the men.
Gorzny and Bancarel finished 2-1 on the week, Felker and Wessel went 1-2, and Poulesquen also finished 2-1.
A TOUGH SCHEDULE
Both sides of the tennis program will face one of the toughest schedules in the country, with the men seeing eight opponents ranked in the ITA Preseason Poll and the women seeing nine.
In those, the men will also play in the ITA Indoor National Championships on February 13-15, where they will see three total ranked teams, led off by #4 West Florida. They will play two other yet to be determined opponents, and all eight teams participating are ranked inside the top 17 in the poll. They will also face off with three consecutive top 15 opponents from March 6-12.
For the women, they will face a stretch of six consecutive top 25 teams from February 27-March 12, and will tack on three more ranked opponents during conference play alone as they face a daunting schedule.
