The Portland men's tennis team will open the 2022 dual season as part of the ITA Kickoff Weekend event. The Pilots will play at the TCU Regional along with Wichita State and Tulsa. Portland and No. 4 TCU meet on Saturday at noon (PT) and then take on either the Shockers or the Hurricane on Sunday.

ABOUT ITA KICKOFF WEEKEND
ITA Kickoff Weekend features fifteen men's and women's host sites that are determined by year-end national rankings, while those who fall outside of the top 15 partake in the ITA Kickoff Weekend Draft where they can select which host site they will compete at with a bid to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on the line.

In last season's men's competition, five of the eight teams who advanced past the ITA Kickoff Weekend went on to win their respective conference titles, while all eight advanced to at least the Round of 16 within the NCAA Tournament.

Historically, 23 of the past 24 Division I Men's NCAA National Finalists have competed and advanced in the ITA Kickoff Weekend.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
Portland returned its entire active roster from a season ago and will open the spring season at this event. The Pilots posted a 10-6 overall record last year and finished ranked No. 75 in the final ITA National Rankings.

"It's really exciting to have earned the right to be in the kickoff for the second time in program history," Portland head coach Aaron Gross said. "TCU is one of the best programs in the country this year and over the last 10 years. It will be fun to play in front of their crowd and against the highest level of competition. We will go there and fight our tails off to give ourselves a chance. Everything we do is predicated on trying to get better. As long as we come home on Sunday night better tennis players then we left on Thursday then will have made the most out of the experience."

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
The TCU Horned Frogs (2-1) opened the season with wins over UTRGV and Preseason No. 1-ranked Florida, before dropping a 4-3 decision to No. 4 Tennessee. TCU will face Abilene Christian on Thursday before hosting the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.

The Wichita State Shockers (3-0) cruised to dual match wins over Saint Louis, Oral Roberts and Purdue to open the season. Wichita State reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago and dropped a 4-3 first round decision to Arizona State in a match hosted at TCU.

The Tulsa Hurricane (2-1) posted victories over Purdue and Illinois State and have a lone 4-3 loss to California to open the season. The Hurricane has a great tennis history with 16 conference championships and 18 NCAA Tournament appearances.

ITA KICKOFF WEEKEND TCU REGIONAL
Saturday, January 29
Wichita State vs. Tulsa, 9 AM (PT)
No. 3 TCU vs. Portland, 12 PM (PT)

Sunday, January 30
Saturday Losers, 9 AM (PT)
Saturday Winners, 12 PM (PT)