March 7, 2013
NASHVILLE – No. 11 Vanderbilt hosts the newest SEC members to West End this weekend, as the Commodores take on fourth-ranked Texas A&M Friday at 3 p.m. and No. 57 Missouri Sunday at 1 p.m.
Last Time Out
No. 11 Vanderbilt put the finishing touches on a 2-0 weekend with a win at Arkansas Sunday afternoon. The Commodores began SEC play with a 7-0 shutout of the No. 63 LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge on Friday, before traveling to Fayetteville and defeating No. 50 Arkansas, 4-3. In doubles, Ashleigh Antal and Marie Casares teamed up to go 2-0 in both matches, while Frances Altick and Georgina Sellyn did the same. Altick also won both of her singles matches.
Vanderbilt Notables
- This marks the first meeting versus Texas A&M and Missouri as SEC members.
- The Commodores have won four-straight matches, which ranks third in the SEC.
- Vanderbilt is 3-0 at home this season.
- Vanderbilt is 2-0 in SEC play for the third-straight season.
- Lauren Mira and Georgina Sellyn are both ranked in the ITA Singles Rankings at Nos. 60 and 64, respectively.
- Mira and Courtney Colton are the 29th-ranked doubles team in ITA Doubles Rankings.
- Colton leads the team with 16 wins this season.
- Altick and Antal are tied for the team-lead with nine wins in dual play.
- Altick has won five-straight singles matches, which is a team-best.
- Antal and Casares are 16-6 in doubles play and riding a five-match win streak.
About No. 4 Texas A&M
Texas A&M (8-1, 2-0) opened its inaugural SEC season by defeating No. 43 South Carolina, 5-2, on Friday. The Aggies then knocked off two-time defending national champion and fourth-ranked Florida, 4-3, ending the Gators’ 37-match winning streak in SEC regular season matches. After dropping the first set, senior Nazari Urbina came back to defeat Florida’s Alexandra Cercone, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1, in the last match standing to clinch the victory and extend the Aggies’ winning streak to six. The Aggies are represented in the ITA singles by the sixth-ranked player, Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar, No. 67 Nazari Urbina and No. 83 Cristina Stancu. Stancu and Stefania Hristov are the 11th-ranked doubles team in the country.
About No. 57 Missouri
Missouri (6-2, 0-2) suffered losses to No. 4 Florida (6-1) and No. 43 South Carolina (4-3) this past weekend. Tiger senior Maria Christensen went 2-0 on the week with wins over Florida’s No. 114 Brianna Morgan (6-2, 6-4) and South Carolina’s Dominika Kanakova (6-3, 6-1). With those wins, Christensen improved to 9-0 in dual matches this spring. Senior Cierra Gaytan-Leach and sophomore Alex Clark also picked up wins against the Gamecocks. Gaytan-Leach defeated No. 69 Jaklin Alawi (6-4, 6-2) for the second time this season, while Clark posted a 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) win over Josefin Andersson. Gaytan-Leach is ranked No. 107 in the ITA singles rankings.
Live Scoring
Fans can follow the action live at vucommodores.com by clicking . Also be sure to follow the Commodores on Twitter at @Vandywtennis.
Up Next
Vanderbilt wraps up its four-match homestand next weekend with visits from Mississippi State on Friday, March 15 (4 p.m. CT) and Ole Miss on Sunday, March 17 (1 p.m. CT).
