April 3, 2008
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Match Notes: Georgia at Vanderbilt
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 13 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team welcomes No. 17 Tennessee and No. 10 Georgia for a pair of pivotal Southeastern Conference matches this weekend at the Currey Tennis Center. The match with Tennessee is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. (CT), while opening serve for Sunday’s match against Georgia is a Noon (CT) start.
“We have long and great rivalries with both teams,” Vanderbilt women’s tennis head coach Geoff Macdonald said. “They’re both awesome teams. We’re looking forward to testing ourselves against them.”
The Commodores enter the weekend with a 15-3 overall record and a 5-3 mark in conference matches. Georgia (13-4) and Tennessee (13-5) enter the weekend with identical 6-2 marks in SEC play. A pair of Vanderbilt wins this weekend could catapult the team into second place in the SEC Eastern Division.
“At this stage of the year, all matches are important,” Macdonald added. “We’re looking at SEC standings and national rankings and just trying to be the best team we can be. The matches this weekend are very important in the SEC race.”
The Lady Vols are 13-5 on the season. Tennessee, ranked 17th in the country, is currently on a three match winning streak. Sophomore Caitlin Whoriskey is the only Tennessee player ranked nationally in singles, coming in at No. 51 in the country. Whoriskey was honored as SEC Player of the Week earlier this week. The doubles tandem of Whoriskey and Zsofia Zubor are ranked 11th in the country.
“Our series with Tennessee is a very hard fought rivalry, but one that has always featured good sportsmanship,” Macdonald said. “I think it’s neat that two of the best teams in the country in women’s tennis year in and year out are in the state of Tennessee.”
Tennessee leads the all-time series against Vanderbilt 28-17. However, the Commodores have won three straight in the series, including two victories last season. The 4-3 win in Knoxville was Vanderbilt’s first road win over Tennessee since 1987. The two teams also met in the second round of the regionals last year with Vanderbilt scoring a 4-0 win.
Georgia is currently ranked 10th in the country. The Bulldogs have three players ranked nationally in singles. Sophomore Yvette Hyndman is No. 49 in the country, while her older sister Kelley Hyndman is rated 69th in the country. Junior Monika Dancevic is the third Bulldog ranked in singles, as she comes in at No. 84.
The Bulldogs also have three doubles teams ranked. Kelley Hyndman and Yvette Hyndman are ranked 43rd in the country, while the team of Kelley Hyndman and Monika Dancevic are No. 47. The team of Yvette Hyndman and Naoko Ueshima is No. 58 nationally.
“Georgia is always an extremely solid team and they have had a great year,” Macdonald said. “Every year Georgia is one of the great teams in our league and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
Vanderbilt trails the all-time series against Georgia 24-7. Georgia won last year’s meeting 4-3, but the Commodores had won the three previous meetings.
Live stats and a recap of both matches will be available on vucommodores.com.