Aug. 23, 2012
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Ten teams that were ranked in the top-25 last season highlight the 2012-13 Vanderbilt women’s tennis schedule. The Commodores will host eight home events during the fall and spring seasons.
Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Northwestern, Baylor, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Georgia Tech and Tennessee all finished the season in the top-25 last season. Of those 10 teams, the Commodores will face Northwestern, Texas A&M, Ole Miss and Florida at home this season.
“We’re playing so many teams that are going to be in the top 30 in the country and to exist in the SEC, you just have to prepare your players with great competition,” Head Coach Geoff Macdonald said. “Our goal each year is to put together as challenging a schedule as possible for our team.”
Macdonald and his squad begin the fall season of competition at the Furman Fall Classic in Greensville, S.C., Sept. 21-23. The month of October will see the Commodores participate in the Riviera All-Americans (Oct. 1-7), Roberta Alison Fall Classic (Oct. 5-7) and Ohio Valley Regionals (Oct. 18-21).
Vanderbilt wraps up the fall season at the Memphis Collegiate Invitational Nov. 2-4.
January 18-20 kicks off the spring season with the Miami Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla., followed by the ITA Kick-Off in Oxford, Miss., Jan. 25-27. The squad then welcomes Northwestern to Nashville for the first home dual of the season on Jan. 31 with a start time of 3 p.m.
The Commodores open the month of February with a dual at Georgia Tech on the 2nd, followed by the National Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Va., Feb. 7-10. Before conference play begins, Vandy will travel to Baylor (Feb. 16), TCU (Feb. 17) and host Memphis (Feb. 27).
The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team will face both of the newest members of the Southeastern Conference in 2013. Vanderbilt will compete against every SEC member this year, which is a rare feat in any collegiate sport.
Vanderbilt opens conference play on the road at LSU on March 1 and Arkansas on March 3 before returning home for four-straight matches. The Dores open at home on March 8th with a match against Texas A&M, followed on the 10th with a match against Missouri.
“It’s an incredible conference, and Texas A&M and Missouri will be great additions to it,” Macdonald said. “All of the teams in the conference are strong competitors, top to bottom.”
Other home matches for the Dores include Mississippi State (March 15), Ole Miss (March 17), South Carolina (April 12) and defending National Champion, Florida (April 14). The team will face Georgia (March 22), Tennessee (March 24), Auburn (March 29), Alabama (March 31) and Kentucky (April 5) on the road, besides LSU and Arkansas.
Both the men’s and women’s teams will play at Tennessee on March 24th. It is one of three such arrangements around the conference next year, with Alabama hosting both LSU’s teams on March 10th, and Florida hosting Mississippi States’ men and women on April 7th.
This year’s SEC Tournament will be held in Starkville, Miss., April 18-21. The NCAA Regionals take place May 10-12, with the team Championships to follow May 16-20 in Champaign, Ill. The season will wrap up with the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships beginning May 21 through 27 also in Champaign.
