April 10, 2009
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The 17th-ranked Vanderbilt women’s tennis team will put its four match SEC winning streak on the line this weekend as it travels to Athens, Ga., and Knoxville, Tenn., for key dual matches with No. 2 Georgia and No. 13 Tennessee. The Commodores match with the Bulldogs will get underway Friday starting with doubles action at 5 p.m. ET while Sunday’s match with the Lady Vols will begin at 1 p.m. ET.
Vanderbilt (9-5, 5-2 SEC) enters the weekend in sole possession of third place in the SEC East. VU’s 5-2 conference mark also ranks third overall in the conference as Arkansas leads the SEC West with a 5-3 mark.
The Commodores are coming an impressive weekend where they wrapped its final regular season home matches by defeating No. 27 Ole Miss and No. 60 Mississippi State. VU freshman Heather Steinbauer earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors this week after improving to 7-0 in singles against SEC opponents. Steinbauer has clinched three of Vanderbilt’s last four wins in conference play.
Georgia (17-2, 7-1) enters Friday’s match with Commodores sitting atop the SEC standings with three regular season conference matches remaining. The Bulldogs have four players ranked in singles play in the latest ITA rankings, led by ninth-ranked Chelsey Gullickson and 34th-ranked Yvette Hyndman. UGA’s team of Nadja Gilchrist and Gullickson are ranked 37th in doubles.
Tennessee (13-4, 6-2 SEC) will host 23rd ranked Kentucky on Friday before facing Vanderbilt on Sunday. The Lady Vols currently sit in sole possession of second place in the SEC, holding a one-game lead over the Commodores. VU looks to continue its success against Tennessee this weekend as they have won eight of the last nine meetings between the two, including five straight. Individually UT is led in singles by 32nd ranked Caitlin Whoriskey.
The Commodores will have one match remaining after this weekend. Vanderbilt will close out the regular season in Lexington, Ky., in a showdown with No. 23 Kentucky on April 18.
Live stats of Friday’s match between the Commodores and Bulldogs will be available via vucommodores.com courtesy of georgiadogs.com or by clicking here.