No. 9 Vanderbilt Commodores
at
No. 23 Arkansas Razorbacks / No. 36 Missouri Tigers
Arkansas: March 5, 2021 • 3 p.m. CT | Mizzou: March 7, 2021 • Noon CT
Ranked Road Trip
- Out on the road for the first time in SEC play, No. 9 Vanderbilt will visit No. 23 Arkansas on Friday at 3 p.m. and No. 36 Missouri on Sunday at noon.
- Fans can follow the match via live stream, live scoring or on Twitter by following @VandyWTennis.
ITA Rankings
- In the newest release of the Oracle/ITA rankings, Vanderbilt moved back up one spot to No. 9 in the country.
- A pair of SEC programs find their spot in the top 10 this week with Vandy at No. 9 and Georgia at No. 3. Five other SEC programs are in the top 25 this week with LSU, Auburn, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Arkansas all slotted Nos. 19-23, respectively. With the ITA extending the national poll this week to 50 teams, seven more teams find themselves Nos. 27-43, meaning all 14 SEC team are within the nation’s best 43 teams.
- In addition to the team ranking, fifth-year senior Christina Rosca opened the season ranked No. 20 in the national singles poll. The spot makes her the second-highest ranked player in the SEC with Georgia’s Katarina Jokic at No. 16. The preseason list is the only poll released thus far by the ITA.
Elite Ranks
- With a three-set victory on Jan. 17 against Western Kentucky, Rosca earned her 100th career singles victory.
- In addition to her 100th singles win, she also earned her 200th career win across singles and doubles on Feb. 22 against LSU.
- To date throughout her career, she owns an overall 109-48 singles record while going a perfect 10-0 thus far this spring season.
- Combining singles and doubles, Rosca is 203-107 in her career as a Commodore thanks to her 94-59 record in doubles play.
Looking Astern
- The Commodores took a crucial doubles point against No. 21 Auburn and held on in singles for their first SEC win of the season last Friday. Marcella Cruz clinched the win with a convincing 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 6 to break the 3-3 tie.
- On Sunday, the Dores dropped a lengthy doubles point in a tiebreaker but answered the call for a comeback with a convincing 4-1 win that saw Vanderbilt win all five first sets that were completed in singles play.
A New Captain
- Over summer, Aleke Tsoubanos took over as the program’s head coach after 13 seasons on staff as an assistant coach.
- With Tsoubanos taking over, Geoff Macdonald remains on staff as the program’s assistant coach.
- One of the most-respected college coaching duos in the country, Tsoubanos and Macdonald led the Commodores to the program’s first national championship in 2015. The pair has also ushered the Dores to 246 wins, 12 NCAA Tournament appearances and back-to-back SEC Tournament and regular-season titles in 2017-18.
- Tsoubanos’s first dual-match victory came Jan. 17 in a 7-0 sweep of Western Kentucky and her first win over a ranked opponent came when the Dores beat N0. 9 Georgia Tech on the road Feb. 12.
Badges of Honor
- Holly Staff earned the first SEC Freshman of the Week honor on Jan. 28.
- Since earning the honor, she has continued the dominant start to her collegiate career with a 12-3 mark across singles and doubles this spring.
A Look Back at 2019-20
- Last season, Vanderbilt went 7-3 across 10 matches with a 3-1 mark in conference play before the remainder of the year was canceled due to COVID-19. Two of those losses were by 4-3 scorelines against Arizona State and No. 36 LSU.
- Rosca won each of her last five matches of the season, finishing the spring campaign with an 8-2 record and a 6-1 mark at No. 1 singles.
- Cruz also had a strong debut season, going 5-1 on the year – all at No. 5 singles – before the shutdown.
On The Radar
- Vanderbilt’s schedule sees the Commodores return home for one SEC match next weekend – a Sunday afternoon tilt against Kentucky. First serve is set for 1 p.m.
