Live Stats
March 18, 2010
NASHVILLE, Ten. – The 17th-ranked Vanderbilt women’s tennis team will jump outside of Southeastern Conference play this weekend as they will host No. 4 Notre Dame on Friday before traveling to Atlanta to play 36th-ranked Georgia Tech on Sunday.
Friday’s match with the Irish will get underway with doubles starting at 2:30 p.m. CT.
The Commodores (7-4, 2-2 SEC) are coming off a solid weekend where they went 1-1 while competing against two of the best teams in the SEC in Georgia and Tennessee. The `Dores knocked off No. 12 Tennessee, 5-2 last Friday before falling to 14th-ranked Georgia on Sunday (L, 5-2).
Vanderbilt is led by senior captain Catherine Newman who is putting together a very strong season for the Commodores. The Greensboro, N.C., native is 8-3 in singles, including 5-2 at the No. 1 position. Newman enters the weekend with a team-high 99 career wins.
Senior teammate Hannah Blatt is 6-1 at No. 6, including a perfect 3-0 against opponents from the SEC while sophomore Chelsea Preeg is 7-4 in singles this spring, including 3-1 in conference play. VU has at least four players with at least six singles wins.
The `Dores have three players ranked in the latest ITA singles poll, led by sophomore standout Jackie Wu at No. 24. Newman is ranked 38th while Preeg is 76th.
All-Time Series (Notre Dame)
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series with Notre Dame 7-3. The series with Irish dates back to 1996. Notre Dame defeated Vanderbilt, 5-2 in the last meeting between the two schools (Mar. 20, 2009)
All-Time Series (Georgia Tech)
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series with Georgia Tech 10-3. The series with the Yellow Jackets dates back to the 1984 season where VU won 5-4. Last season, Georgia Tech edged the Commodores, 4-3 inside the Currey Tennis Center.
A Closer Look at Notre Dame
The fourth-ranked Irish arrive to Nashville as once again a top-contender to win the Big East Conference. Notre Dame (12-2, 1-0 Big East) is off to strong start in 2010 and is coming off a spring break trip to Puerto Rico where they defeated William and Mary (W, 5-2), before falling to fifth-ranked Duke, 5-2. The Irish have three players ranked in the latest ITA singles rankings, led by 14th-ranked sophomore Kristy Frilling. UND’s Christine McGaffigan is ranked 99th while Shannon Matthews is 108th. UND has been strong in doubles this season as well, winning the doubles point in 11 of their 14 matches. Frilling and senior partner Kali Krisik are 10-0 at No. 1 doubles and are ranked fourth nationally.
A Closer Look at Georgia Tech
Georgia Tech (7-5) will host in-state rival Georgia on Saturday before hosting the Commodores at 12 p.m. CT on Sunday. The Yellow Jackets are coming off a 6-1 win over North Texas on March 13. Prior to beating the Mean Green, had lost three straight matches to three of the nation’s top teams (Northwestern, Notre Dame and Clemson) at the ITA National Indoor Tournament. Individually, the Jackets are led by the nation’s top-rated singles player Irina Falconi and 2008 NCAA singles champion, Amanda McDowell, while junior Sasha Krupina comes into the match ranked in the top-90.
Live Stats of Friday’s match with Notre Dame will be offered on vucommodores.com. Click the link at the top of the page to follow the action live.
All home matches are free of charge and are open to the public.