March 12, 2009
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team will hit the road for the first time in two months as they travel to Baton Rouge, La., and Fayetteville, Ark., for two SEC road contests with LSU and Arkansas. The `Dores will square off against No. 20 LSU in a Friday afternoon tilt at 3 p.m., before heading north to face off against No. 29 Arkansas on Sunday. Sunday’s match with Arkansas will begin with doubles play starting at 11 a.m.
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series with LSU 18-14 following last season’s 7-0 sweep over the Lady Tigers in Nashville. The `Dores have won 11 straight dual matches over the Tigers and have not lost in the series since a 5-4 defeat in 1997. Vanderbilt also leads the all-time series with Arkansas, holding a 17-4 advantage.
VU, 4-2, 1-1 SEC is coming off a weekend split with a 5-2 win over No. 29 South Carolina last Friday before falling 5-2 to No. 31 Florida on Sunday. The `Dores were led last weekend by senior Courtney Ulery and freshman Heather Steinbauer as both of them went 2-0 in singles play. Vanderbilt’s number three doubles tandem of Courtney and Keilly Ulery picked up two wins to lead the `Dores in doubles against the Gamecocks and Gators.
The Commodores feature three players ranked in the latest ITA singles poll, No. 50 Catherine Newman, No. 52. Jackie Wu and No. 90 Keilly Ulery.
Vanderbilt head coach Geoff Macdonald will return to familiar territory Friday as the team battles LSU in Baton Rouge. Macdonald served as the head coach of the LSU women’s tennis team for three years (1988-91), leading the Tigers to the NCAA Top 20 in his final season at the helm.
LSU (7-4, 0-2 SEC) is led by 12th-ranked senior Megan Falcon and junior Nicole Kantor. Falcon holds a 22-8 singles record while Kantor s 18-8. LSU’s 17th-ranked doubles pair of Mykala Hedberg and Falcon leads the team with a 22-3 record, including 10 straight victories.
Arkansas (6-3, 1-1 SEC) will host 13th-ranked Kentucky on Friday before concluding the weekend with Vanderbilt on Sunday. The 28th-ranked Razorbacks are coming off a weekend split with Alabama (L, 3-4) and Auburn (W, 6-1). Arkansas has two players ranked in singles, led by two-time defending indoor singles national champion, Aurelija Miseviciute. In doubles, the Razorbacks are led by the 18th-ranked duo of Nanar Airapetian and Anouk Tigu.
A recap and final results of each dual match will be posted on www.vucommodores.com, following the conclusion of competition.