Sept. 25, 2009
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team returns to the hard courts this weekend as it travels to Greenville, S.C., to play in the 23rd annual Furman Fall Classic Sept. 25-27. The tournament will feature eight teams in flighted competition, including individual flight champions in doubles and singles. There will be no team scoring in this tournament.
The Furman Fall Classic once again features some of the best teams in the country including seven teams that finished the spring season ranked in the final ITA’s top-25 poll; Northwestern (No. 2), Tennessee (No. 10), Clemson (No. 11), South Carolina (No. 17), Florida State (No. 19) and North Carolina (No. 20). The eight-team field also includes 22 singles players and eight doubles teams ranked in the fall preseason ITA poll.
Tournament play will get underway Friday with doubles starting at 8 a.m. CT, followed by singles at 12 p.m. CT.
The `Dores look to continue its successful fall campaign after opening the season two weeks ago in Nashville at the SEC Fall Coaches Classic. Vanderbilt went a combined 13-8 in singles and 7-2 in doubles against its SEC counterparts at the friendly confines of the Currey Tennis Center. Chelsea Preeg was the lone `Dore to end the weekend with a perfect 3-0 record in singles after defeating Tennessee’s Jennifer Meredith in straight sets in the final match of the winner’s bracket of her respected draw. Catherine Newman, Jackie Wu, Keilly Ulery and Hannah Blatt started the fall season on the right track as they all went 2-1 in singles play at the SEC Coaches Classic. The Commodore tandem of Heather Steinbauer and Catherine Newman will look to add to its undefeated 3-0 record this weekend after winning its respected draw two weeks ago in Nashville.
Vanderbilt’s Preeg might have the chance to play her older sister in singles or doubles this weekend as her older sister, Jessica, is a senior for Furman.
A recap and results of each day of the Furman Fall Classic will be posted on vucommodores.com following the day’s events.