March 30, 2017
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 5 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team is back on its home court this weekend to host No. 48 Missouri on Friday at 4 p.m. and No. 18 Arkansas on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Commodores (11-5) have dropped just one Southeastern Conference match in seven competitions and have taken five top-25 victories this season; No. 10 Duke, No. 11 Auburn, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 18 Georgia and No. 23 Ole Miss.
The SEC has eight top-25 teams in the latest Oracle/ITA team rankings. In singles, Astra Sharma sits as the highest ranked player in the league at No. 5 in the country. Sydney Campbell and Christina Rosca follow the redshirt senior at No. 12 and No. 93. Freshman Emma Kurtz remains the only undefeated Commodore in SEC play and is one of six unbeaten players in the league.
At No. 8, Sharma and Emily Smith are the second highest-ranked SEC doubles team.
Scouting the Tigers:
No. 49 Missouri heads to West End with a 10-8 (1-6) record, having dropped their last five competitions. Mizzou’s lone league victory came at home against Texas A&M in a tight 4-3 win.
The pairing of Amina Ismail and Bea Machadao Santos represent the Tigers in the latest doubles rankings, coming in at No. 64. The tandem is 9-4 on the season and 3-2 in SEC play.
During the dual season the Tigers have performed well throughout the lower end of their lineup. Freshman Tate Shchroeder owns a 9-2 record at No. 4 singles, and Macenzy Middlebrook, who has been playing predominately on courts five and six, boasts a 7-2 dual record.
In its last competition, Vanderbilt walked away from Columbia, Mo. with a 4-0 sweep.
Scouting the Razorbacks:
Arkansas will be the Commodore’s sixth top-25 opponent this season, coming in at No. 18. The Razorbacks own a 14-5 overall record, going 4-3 in SEC action. Arkansas went 0-2 last weekend, falling 4-3 to No. 1 Florida and 4-2 to No. 24 South Carolina.
The Hogs boast one ranked doubles team in No. 38 Giulia Pairone and Shannon Hudson. Individually, Hudson leads a trio of ranked Arkansas student-athletes at No. 48. Ana Oparenovic and Léolia Jeanjean follow at No. 115 and No. 121.
Last season the Dores pulled through with a 4-3 victory on the road against the Razorbacks.