March 11, 2010
NASHVILLE, Ten. – After going 1-1 in the opening weekend of Southeastern Conference play, the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team will continue its conference slate this weekend when it host No. 12 Tennessee and No. 14 Georgia.
The Commodores (6-3, 1-1 SEC) will face-off with in-state rival Tennessee at 2:30 p.m. CT, on Friday before hosting Georgia at noon on Sunday. Both matches will be played at the Currey Tennis Center and will be open to the public free of charge.
The `Dores will look to get even with the Lady Vols after dropping a tough 4-3 decision to them at the ITA Kick-Off Weekend final on Jan. 30 in Knoxville.
The home matches this weekend will mark only the second and third time that VU has played at home this season. The Commodores opened the 2010 campaign with six consecutive road matches.
Vanderbilt will be looking for its second straight conference dual win after an impressive 7-0 sweep against No. 72 Mississippi State last Sunday. VU’s win over MSU on Sunday snapped the Lady Bulldogs seven-match winning streak and marked the 21st consecutive time that the `Dores have defeated Mississippi State.
The Commodores have four players with at least five dual wins in singles play, led by senior Catherine Newman’s 7-2 record. Newman has been strong in singles and doubles this season as she enters the weekend only two wins shy of the 100-singles win plateau. In three-and-a-half years on West End, the Greensboro, N.C., native has gone 98-44 in singles while competing mainly at the top-three spots.
VU’s Chelsea Preeg is 6-3 in singles this season while Heather Steinbauer and Hannah Blatt each have five wins apiece.
A Closer Look at Tennessee
The Lady Vols (8-4, 2-0 SEC) are coming off a perfect 2-0 weekend where they downed No. 36 Auburn, 6-1 and No. 50 Alabama, 5-2 despite only having five active players in the lineup. Tennessee is led by All-American Caitlin Whoriskey, junior Maria Sorbello and sophomore Natalie Pluskota. Whoriskey is currently ranked No. 10 in the nation in singles while Sorbello is 47th. The Lady Vols have also been very strong in doubles play this season, led by the nation’s No. 1 pair of Whoriskey and Pluskota and 33rd -ranked RosalÃÂa Alda and Zsófia Zubor.
A Closer Look at Georgia
Georgia, the defending SEC regular season and tournament champion, is off to a solid start in league play after pulling out a pair of tightly-contested, 4-3 wins over Alabama and Auburn last weekend in Athens. The 14th-ranked Bulldogs (6-3, 2-0 SEC) will meet Kentucky (1-9, 0-2 SEC) on Friday before heading to Nashville to face the Commodores on Sunday. Georgia is led in singles by sophomores and returning All-Americans Chelsey Gullickson (currently ranked No. 6) and 23rd-ranked Nadja Gilchrist. Gullickson is 7-2 at No. 1 singles while Gilchrist is 7-2 at the No. 2 spot. The two sophomores will likely compete together at No. 1 doubles as they have won 12-matches in a row en route to top-10 national ranking.
Live Stats of both matches this weekend will be offered on vucommodores.com. Click the link at the top of the page to follow the action live.