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ATHENS, Ga. -- The 71^st-ranked Samford University women's tennis team will begin play in its highly-anticipated 2015 spring season Saturday at noon (CST) as the Bulldogs square off against the 10^th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs in the second match of the prestigious ITA Kick-Off Weekend to be held at the Dan Magill Tennis Center.
 
The 28th-ranked Auburn Tigers will meet the No. 62 Wake Forest Demon Deacons at 8 a.m., in the weekend's opening match.
 
The ITA Kick-Off Weekend events were created in 2009 as qualifiers for the ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships. Sixty schools compete for the remaining 15 spots in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, with a reserved spot for the host institution.
 
After ITA Kick-Off Weekend host sites were named, a draft was held with schools selecting which site to play at in order of year-end ITA Team Rankings.
 
Samford (0-0) heads into the 2015 ITA Kick-Off Weekend with a full head of steam coming off a successful 2014 campaign, in which the Bulldogs registered a school-record 20-3 overall mark, including a perfect 13-0 mark at home.
 
The Bulldogs concluded their 2014 campaign being triumphant in 18 of their last 20 matches; with losses only at No. 21-ranked Auburn on Feb. 9 and against Elon in the Southern Conference Tournament championship match, 4-2.
 
As a team, Samford dominated play in both singles and doubles in 2014. The Bulldogs finished the year with a stellar 101-27 record in the singles competition, as well as a brilliant 49-17 mark in dual-match doubles play.
 
Samford's 2015 roster boasts a trio of talented seniors in Yasmeen Ebada, AnnMarie Lyon and Stephanie N'tcha. Additionally, the Bulldogs' ledger includes highly-touted juniors Carita Moolman, Jessica Northcutt and Iva Parapunova.
 
Samford's lone underclassman this season is true freshman Savannah Wood, who completed the 2014 fall campaign with a championship title at the Roberta Alison Fall Classic with a perfect 3-0 record.
 
Georgia (0-1) officially opened its spring dual-match season Sunday with a 4-3 defeat at No. 15 Baylor that came down to a third set in the deciding singles match. It marked the first time since 1996 that the Bulldogs have opened the season with a loss.
 
Samford and Georgia have only met once before on the hard court. That meeting occurred in 2004, when Georgia hosted Samford in the first round of the NCAA Tournament held in Athens. Georgia won the match 4-0.
 
The 2015 spring season of collegiate tennis shifts into full gear this weekend during the annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Sixty teams will be competing across the country for the right to qualify for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships to be hosted in February by the University of Virginia.
 
The 15 women's universities hosting ITA Kick-Off Weekend events were designated as host sites in order of their year-end 2014 ITA team ranking. Three visiting schools will travel to each host site for a four-team tournament. The host school will meet the No. 4 seed, the No. 2 seed will play the No. 3 seed, and the winners will come back to play for a berth at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
 
Following Saturday's historic season-opening contest at No. 10 Georgia, the Samford University women's tennis team will continue play in the 2015 ITA Kick-Off Weekend against either No. 28 Auburn or No. 62 Wake Forest on Sunday at the Dan Magill Tennis Center.
 
Saturday's winners will meet Sunday at 4 p.m. (CST), while the opening day's losing squads will meet at 8 a.m., in the consolation match.

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