March 2, 2017
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 14 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team begins Southeastern Conference play this weekend, facing in-state rival No. 12 Tennessee on Friday at 5 pm CT and No. 18 Georgia Sunday afternoon at noon CT.
“We’re definitely starting conference play with two challenging matches,” said redshirt-junior Astra Sharma. “It kind of feels strange to be playing both these teams so early in the conference season, they’re two of our bigger matches, but we’re excited.”
“The freshmen definitely know that once conference starts the competition is more intense. The SEC is traditionally one of the best, if not the best, conference in women’s tennis, but we’ve had some close matches out of conference that kind of mimic what they should expect. But the crowds and their energy will be new to them, and they know it.”
Vandy begins conference play with a 5-4 record. Last weekend, the ‘Dores went 1-1 on the West Coast, downing Saint Mary’s 6-1 but falling in a 4-3 heartbreaker to Stanford.
The Commodores boast three ranked singles players and a ranked doubles team. Sharma leads the squad as the No. 5 player in the nation with Sydney Campbell and freshman Christina Rosca following at No. 16 and 60, respectively. Sharma and Emily Smith team up together in doubles as the 32nd ranked team.
Scouting Tennessee:
Tennessee rocketed in the ITA rankings from No. 24 to 12 following a 13-1 non-conference slate. The squad’s lone loss came in a 7-0 sweep at No. 11 Georgia Tech. The Vols recently swept No. 14 Kansas and defeated No. 33 UNLV 4-1.
Individually, Brittany Lindl sits at No. 93 in the country. The senior plays predominantly at the second spot in the Vols’ singles lineup and owns a 7-2 dual match record. In doubles, Tennessee does not have any ranked teams but owns just one loss apiece on courts one (7-1) and two (10-1).
“Tennessee is always really fired up to play us,” said Sharma, “especially when we go over to there place. Their team is much improved over the last few years, so this will be a totally different match-up than what we’ve seen before. They’re going to come at us guns blazing, but the team has been preparing for the matchup and SEC play this week.”
Scouting Georgia:
Georgia starts SEC play with a 6-2 non-conference record. Prior to their Sunday matinee against the Commodores, the Dawgs host Kentucky Friday afternoon. UGA’s two losses of the season came against No. 1 Florida (4-0) and Georgia Tech (4-3).
Georgia has five ranked players led by freshman No. 15 Eleni Christofi. Caroline Brinson (41), Kennedy Shafer (44), Ellen Perez (62) and Marta Gonzalez (111).
During the 2016 regular season the ‘Dores took a dominant 4-1 lead over UGA with the Bulldogs taking the reminder of the matches, in a 4-3 VU victory. Georgia later defeated Vanderbilt 4-2 in the SEC tournament.
“Georgia is a really competitive team,” stated Sharma. They historically have a really strong lineup. I think we’ve made some really good strides in our doubles lineup, which will be important for this weekend. I think it will be another intense match. Georgia at home is a super rowdy environment, so we’re all geared up for that. We’re going to come out ready.”