March 22, 2018
The third-ranked Vanderbilt women’s tennis team returns to West End this weekend, taking on in-state rival No. 37 Tennessee Friday at 3 p.m. and No. 9 Georgia Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Commodores enter the weekend with a 12-3 (5-1) record, having suffered their first Southeastern Conference loss last Friday versus Mississippi State then rebounding on Sunday to hand then-No. 11 Ole Miss a 4-2 loss.
The SEC leads all conferences with eight teams ranked in the ITA top 25: Vanderbilt (3); Georgia (9); South Carolina (10); Ole Miss (11); Auburn (15); Florida (18); Kentucky (20); Mississippi State (24).
The first 75 fans in attendance Friday afternoon will receive a Vanderbilt Tennis t-shirt. The first 100 fans at Sunday’s match against UGA will take home a Vanderbilt Commodores visor. For updates and a behind the scenes look at the program, follow @VandyWTennis on Twitter.
Commodore Notables:
– Vanderbilt ranks third in the country, behind North Carolina, who VU beat 4-3 earlier this season, and Pepperdine, who beat the Dores 4-3 earlier this year
– The Commodores began the season ranked second and have not left the ITA top 10
– VU owns 10 ranked wins, with eight victories coming against top 25 teams
– Vandy boasts four ranked singles players; No. 5 Fernanda Contreras, No. 14 Astra Sharma, No. 39 Christina Rosca and No. 97 Amanda Meyer
– The Dores have the potential to field two top 25 doubles duos; No. 19 Rosca/Emma Kurtz and No. 21 Contreras/Sharma
– Vandy has clinched the doubles point in 8-of-15 competitions
– Emma Kurtz and Emily Smith lead the squad in doubles clinches with four
– Contreras, Dvorak, Meyer, Rosca and Sharma all have three or less losses on the dual season
– Vandy defeated both Tennessee and Georgia last season, 6-1 and 4-2, respectively
Vetting the Volunteers:
– Tennessee enters the weekend with a 13-5 overall record and ranked 37th
– The Volunteers have been ranked as high as 17th this season
– All five of the Vols’ losses have come in SEC play
– In their last outing, the Volunteers split a doubleheader, defeating Lipscomb 4-0 and falling 4-1 to Florida
– Chelsea Sawyer, Gabby Schuck, Kaitlin Staines and Tanika McGiffin all have two or less dual singles losses
Tracking the Dawgs:
– UGA enters the weekend ranked ninth in the nation
– Georgia heads to Nashville with a 9-3 overall record and 4-1 SEC slate
– Like Vandy, UGA dropped their first SEC matchup of the season last weekend (SC, 4-1)
– Georgia is 2-1 on the road, falling to then-No.12 Georgia Tech 4-2
– UGA owns five ranked wins
– The Bulldogs have four ranked singles student-athletes; No. 6 Katarina Jokic, No. 45 Kennedy Shaffer, No. 81 Marta Gonzalez and No. 110 Morgan Coppoc
– In doubles, the Dawgs have two top 15 tandems; No. 9 Jokic/Mariana Gould and No. 11 Eleni Christofi/Coppoc