March 9, 2017
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The fifth-ranked Vanderbilt women’s tennis team hosts No. 33 Mississippi State and No. 23 Ole Miss this weekend for its first home Southeastern Conference match-ups of the year.
VU began conference play picking up two road wins last weekend. The ‘Dores dominated in-state rival No. 12 Tennessee, 6-1, and defeated No. 18 Georgia, 4-2, for the squad’s first victory in Athens since 2005.
Senior Sydney Campbell is the SEC’s Player of the Week while Emma Kurtz earned Freshman of the Week honors. The last time the Commodores swept weekly accolades was April 8, 2015. Campbell earned her first league accolade that day with Astra Sharma taking home freshman honors.
For their efforts over the weekend, Vandy climbed nine spots in the Oracle/ITA rankings from No. 14 to No. 5. Individually, Sharma held her place as the No. 5 player in the nation, while Campbell moved up in the rankings to join the Aussie in the top 10 at No. 8. Christina Rosca follows the veterans at No. 65.
In tandems, Sharma and Emily Smith are ranked No. 20. Sharma and Kurtz team up at No. 45, while Smith and Contreras are ranked 57th.
Scouting the Bulldogs:
No. 33 Mississippi State owns an 8-2 record and looks to improve off its 1-1 start to conference play. MSU’s two losses of the season came against Michigan in Ann Arbor and in their SEC opener against Auburn, 6-1.
The Bulldogs boast one ranked player in No. 57 Jasmine Lee and one ranked doubles team, No. 13 Lee and Lisa Marie Rioux.
Last season, Vandy downed MSU 4-1 in the regular season and 4-1 in quarterfinal play of the SEC tournament. The last time the Commodores fell to the Bulldogs was in a 6-0 sweep in 1991.
Scouting Ole Miss:
No. 23 Ole Miss carries a 10-2 record to West End. The Rebels opened conference play last weekend with a close 4-3 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide. Ole Miss’ two losses on the year came consecutively at National Team Indoors against Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech.
Mississippi travels one ranked singles player and doubles team as Arianne Hartono came in at No. 47 in the latest Oracle/ITA singles poll. The junior Rebel is joined in tandems by Anna Vrbenska, the duo is ranked 33rd.
The first 100 fans at Sunday’s 1 pm matchup against Ole Miss will receive Panera Bread brunch.
