March 25, 2009
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The 26th-ranked Vanderbilt women’s tennis team returns to Nashville after a one-match road trip to host No. 6 Georgia Tech at the Currey Tennis Center at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. The match with the Yellow Jackets marks the final non-conference opponent Vanderbilt will play this season.
The Commodores (5-4, 1-2) leads the all-time series with Georgia Tech 10-2, including winners of eight of the last nine meetings. Last season, the Commodores posted an impressive 4-3 comeback win over the second-ranked Yellow Jackets in Atlanta. Junior Catherine Newman clinched the match with a huge three set win over fifth-ranked Kristi Miller.
VU went 1-1 last week in dual match play. Vanderbilt opened the week with a 5-2 win over No. 39 Princeton in Nashville, before falling 5-2 to second-ranked Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. Junior Catherine Newman and freshman Jackie Wu recorded two singles wins in as many tries to lead the Commodores last week. Newman is coming off one of her best weeks of the year after topping two ranked opponents from Princeton and Notre Dame at number one singles.
Vanderbilt is 1-0 against teams from the ACC. VU’s lone win came against Wake Forest in the first round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend when the `Dores blanked the Demon Deacons, 6-0.
The Yellow Jackets (10-5, 4-1) come into today’s match winners of five of their last six meetings, including recent 4-3 win over No. 2 Notre Dame. Tech is led in singles by the defending NCAA champion, Amanda McDowell and freshman phenom Irina Falconi. The Jackets have a total of four players ranked in the latest ITA rankings. Noelle Hickey is ranked 43rd while Christy Stiplin is 46th. In doubles, the Jackets are led by the fifth-ranked tandem of McDowell and Falconi and the 20th-ranked team of Striplin and Hickey.
Live stats of Wednesday’s match between the Commodores and Yellow Jackets will be available on vucommodores.com or by clicking here.