March 6, 2008
Match Notes: No. 30 Arkansas at No. 20 Vanderbilt
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Fresh off an upset victory over No. 2 Georgia Tech, the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team continues Southeastern Conference play this weekend as it hosts the 30th-ranked Arkansas Lady `Backs and the No. 21 LSU Tigers. Arkansas and LSU will be the fourth and fifth-consecutive ranked opponents that the Commodores have faced.
The Commodores enter the match with an 8-2 overall mark and 0-2 conference record. The `Dores opened the conference season last weekend, dropping a 5-2 decision at Florida and a hard-fought 4-3 match at South Carolina.
Vanderbilt picked up its biggest win of the season on Wednesday, defeating No. 2 Georgia Tech 4-3. After dropping the doubles point, the Black and Gold picked up singles wins at the first four positions to claim a comeback win over the defending national champions. Sophomore Catherine Newman clinched the match for Vanderbilt at the second singles position, defeating the fifth-ranked Kristi Miller 7-6, 5-7, 6-4.
Arkansas enters the second weekend of conference play with a 1-1 SEC mark and an 8-5 overall record. Arkansas dropped a 4-3 decision to Auburn and swept Alabama 7-0 to start conference play.
The Lady `Backs currently have the top-ranked player in singles in Aurelija Miseviciute. Miseviciute is 10-2 on the season in singles, with all of her matches played at the No. 1 position. She is the only member of the Lady `Backs to appear in the latest singles poll released by the ITA. However, all three doubles teams for Arkansas made an appearance in the latest rankings, led by the tandem of Ela Kaluder and Miseviciute who are ranked No. 21 in the country.
Vanderbilt leads the overall series against the Lady `Backs 17-3, including last year’s 7-0 sweep in Nashville.
LSU is currently on top of the SEC’s western division with a 2-0 mark and 7-3 overall record. LSU defeated Alabama 5-2 and Auburn 4-3 last weekend to open conference play.
The Tigers have one played ranked nationally in singles. Megan Falcon is the 18th-ranked player in the country. Hannah Robinson leads LSU in wins with 17, while Falcon has 16 victories on the year and Tiffany Tucker has 13.
The Commodores lead the overall series against LSU 17-14. Vanderbilt has dominated the recent meetings between the two schools, winning the last 10 matches, including last year’s 5-2 victory.
Opening serve against the Lady `Backs on Friday is schedule for 2:30 p.m. (CST), while Sunday’s match against LSU is scheduled to begin at noon (CST). Admission is free to all matches at the Currey Tennis Center.
