The University of North Carolina men’s tennis team will play USC in Chicago in the first round of action at the 2023 Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Team Indoor Championship. The 10th-seeded Tar Heels and seventh-seeded Trojans will begin play on Friday at 1 p.m. Eastern Time at the XS Tennis Village.
The winner will advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal round against the winner of No. 2 seed Kentucky vs. No. 15 seed Florida.
The Tar Heels won the ITA National Team Indoor title in both 2016 and 2021 and reached the championship match in 2020.
UNC and USC will be meeting for the third time in five seasons. In 2020, second-seeded Southern California won the doubles point and went on to beat fourth-seeded Carolina, 4-1, in the championship match of the 2020 ITA Indoor National Championships. The year before in 2019, the Tar Heels beat USC, 4-1, on the road in the NCAA Tournament round of 16, handing the Trojans their first NCAA Tournament loss at Marks Tennis Stadium.
Carolina advanced to this weekend’s final 16 in Chicago with a pair of home wins three weeks ago in Chapel Hill. UNC blanked Oklahoma State, 4-0, in the opening round on January 28 before topping 13th-ranked Harvard, 4-1, on the 29th.
The Tar Heels are 1-2 against ranked opponents thus far this season, beating Harvard on the ITA Kickoff Weekend while losing, 4-3, at then-No. 9-South Carolina and losing at home, 4-3, to then-third-ranked TCU. UNC also beat ITA Indoor host Illinois in Chapel Hill earlier this season.
ITA National Team Indoor Championship Seeding
1. Ohio State
2. Kentucky
3. TCU
4. Michigan
5. Virginia
6. South Carolina
7. USC
8. Texas
9. Wake Forest
10. North Carolina
11. Georgia
12. Tennessee
13. Stanford
14. Baylor
15. Florida
16. Illinois
Schedule • Friday, February 17
Courts 1-6: TCU (3) vs Baylor (14), 9:00 am (CT)
Courts 7-12: South Carolina (6) vs Georgia (11), 9:00 am (CT)
Courts 1-6: Kentucky (2) vs Florida (15), 12:00 pm (CT)
Courts 7-12: USC (7) vs North Carolina (10), 12:00 pm (CT)
Courts 1-6: Michigan (4) vs Stanford (13), 3:30 pm (CT)
Courts 7-12: Virginia (5) vs Tennessee (12), 3:30 pm (CT)
Courts 1-6: Ohio State (1) vs Illinois (16), 6:30 pm (CT)
Courts 7-12: Texas (8) vs Wake Forest (9), 6:30 pm (CT)
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