TENNESSEE 2012 LADY VOL TENNIS MATCH SIXTEEN
#8 TENNESSEE [10-5, 1-2] AT MISSISSIPPI STATE [4-6, 0-3] MARCH 11, 2012 /// A.J. PITTS TENNIS CENTRE /// STARKVILLE, MISS.
PROJECTED LINEUPS TENNESSEE
MISSISSIPPI STATE
Head Coaches: Mike Patrick & Sonia Hahn-Patrick
Head Coach: Daryl Greenan
DOUBLES Name (Rank) 1. Pluskota/Williams (9)
2012 Total (Dual) 7-4 (7-4)
Name (Rank) 2012 Total (Dual) 1. Perper/Tsigvintseva (44) 20-5 (11-1)
Pluskota and Williams returned to action Friday, going 1-1 last weekend...2-1 against Top 10 teams.
2. Boren/Toti (10)
24-5 (13-2)
2. Dion/Tran
Winning streak of 15 came to an end Friday, losing for the first time in 2012...13 wins lead SEC.
3. Henderson/Szekely
10-2 (10-2)
3. --
Have won 10 of 12 together...Have won five of last six...Have won eight contests by at least five points.
16-10 (9-5) --
KATA SZEKELY
SINGLES
SCHEDULE /// 2012 SEASON
Name (Rank) 1. Natalie Pluskota (28)
2012 Dual 9-9 (1-4)
Name (Rank) 1. Alexandra Perper (91)
2012 Total (Dual) 8-2 (8-2)
2. Brynn Boren (35)
18-10 (10-5)
2. Olesya Tsigvintseva
8-11 (4-4)
3. Kata Szekely (37)
17-5 (10-3)
3. Naomi Tran
4-5 (4-5)
4. Caitlyn Williams
8-4 (8-4)
4. Petra Ferancova
7-14 (2-7)
21 22 27 28
5. Sarah Toti
13-10 (7-7)
5. Roseline Dion
8-10 (2-4)
FEBRUARY
6. Joanna Henderson
8-9 (6-7)
6. --
--
In search of 50th career win...Missed last five contests before returning on Friday.
Took nation’s top-ranked player Allie Will to third-set tiebreaker...17 wins are a team-high...Won five of six.
Has won five of six..Provided tying point vs. So. Carolina (3-3) after winning a third-set tiebreaker...Also won third-set TB Friday. SEC Freshman of the Week after match-clinching win vs. So. Carolina...Won five of six...Provided clinching point in last 4 UT wins. Has shared time at positions three, four and five this season...Three-time SEC Freshman of the Week...Has lost four of five. Has played six straight matches from the No. 5 position...Has played two tiebreakers in 2012.
THE STORYLINES LATEST ITA RANKINGS
• Tennessee is now rated eighth in the nation in the latest Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings, released Tuesday, a week after the Lady Vols’ first top-five ranking (fifth) since being second in May 2001. • On Feb. 28, UT became the only school with two duos in the Top 10 of doubles, led by No. 9 Natalie Pluskota and Caitlyn Williams, and followed by No. 10 Brynn Boren and Sarah Toti. • Just three schools have three players ranked in the Top 37 of singles: Tennessee, USC and Florida. • Pluskota leads the way for UT in singles rankings, up eight spots to No. 28, while Boren and Szekely are ranked 35th and 37th, respectively.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
• UT has opened the season 3-1 on the road after winning its first three for the fourth time under Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick. The Lady Vols started 5-0 on the road in 2011.
y SCORING SYSTEM
SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
• Mississippi State marks Tennessee’s third unranked opponent this season in 16 matches. • Mississippi State rests at the bottom of the SEC West, opening the conference slate with an 0-3 record. • The Bulldogs lost Friday, suffering a 0-7 shutout to Georgia at home. MSU was shorthanded, defaulting at No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles. • Tennessee is 32-4 all-time against Mississippi State, including an 11-5 mark in Starkville. The Lady Vols have won seven straight and 27 of the last 28 meetings.
ON FRIDAY...
• Tennessee dropped its second SEC match in three attempts, falling to Ole Miss, 5-2. UT picked up wins from Brynn Boren and Kata Szekely.
New to the college game? All that matters is which team gets to four points first. In dual matches, teams first play a best-of-three doubles competition. Whichever team wins two of the three matches earns one point. Teams then play six singles matches, each worth one point. The team that takes four of the seven total available points wins the match. (Note: Doubles matches are eight-game pro sets. Singles matches are best-of-three sets.)
JANUARY
3 5 10 11 12 17 19 25
MARCH 2 4 9 11 21 23 25 30
APRIL
1 6 8 14 19-22
vs. #9 Virginia1 vs. #4 North Carolina1 #58 UC Davis^ #22 Tulsa^
L, 4-3 L, 5-2 W, 5-0 W, 4-0
#24 Notre Dame #10 Michigan vs. #5 Baylor+2 vs. #16 USC+2 vs. #12 Northwestern+2 at Indiana at #64 Ohio State at UCF
W, 6-1 W, 5-2 W, 4-0 L, 1-4 W, 4-3 W, 5-2 W, 4-3 W, 7-0
#15 Florida* #22 South Carolina* at #25 Ole Miss* at Mississippi State* at UNLV at LSU* Arkansas* at Vanderbilt*
L, 0-7 W, 4-3 L, 2-5 2 p.m. 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 1 p.m. 5 p.m.
at Kentucky* Noon Auburn* 5 p.m. Alabama* 1 p.m. at Georgia* Noon 3 SEC Championships TBD
MAY
11-12 NCAA First & Second Rounds 17-28 NCAA Championships: Final Site4 23-28 NCAA Championships: Singles/Doubles4 ^ ITA Kick-Off; *SEC match, + ITA National Indoors 1 Flushing, N.Y.; 2Charlottesville, Va.; 3Oxford, Miss.; 4 Athens, Ga.
FACTS BOX /// BY THE NUMBERS
4
Consecutive UT wins that Caitlyn Williams has provided the match-clinching point for.
11
Opponents Tennessee has played ranked in the Top 25 in the Lady Vols’ first 15 matches. UT has won five of those.
13
Brynn Boren and Sarah Toti’s 13 dual-match wins lead all SEC tandems. Tennessee has also won the doubles point in 13 of 15 matches.
MORE NOTES: SEC FRESHMEN OF THE WEEK
• Sarah Toti was recognized as the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Week in each the first three weeks of the season, while Caitlyn Williams is UT’s latest representative, winning the award this week. • Toti is the first women’s tennis student-athlete to earn any kind of player of the week distinction three weeks in a row. She matched doubles partner Brynn Boren’s UT record of three overall freshman of the week awards, which Boren accomplished in 2011. • Williams was honored after her 6-4, 6-4 win vs. So. Carolina clinched UT’s 4-3 victory over the Gamecocks.
BATTLE TESTED
• Out of Tennessee’s 15 opponents this season, 13 have been ranked in the ITA poll at the time of the match. Additionally, UT has played four teams in the Top 10 and 11 schools in the Top 25. • The Lady Vols have fared well against top-flight competition, going 8-5 against ranked opponents, 3-2 against Top 12 foes and 5-5 against Top 25 schools. • Three of UT’s five losses are to teams currently ranked in the top six (Florida-2, USC-4 & Virginia-6).
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE, DOUBLE THE FUN
• Tennessee has been stellar in doubles action thus far, winning 30 of its 41 overall matches. The Lady Vols won the doubles point in their first 12 contests, marking a program record to open the season, and have won it 13 out of 15 times. The duo of Brynn Boren and Sarah Toti lead UT at 13-2, while Joanna Henderson and Kata Szekely are 10-2, and Natalie Pluskota and Caitlyn Williams are 7-4. • The Boren-Toti combination has clinched the doubles point for UT a team-high eight times and is 24-5 overall. Their 15 match-win streak was snapped last Friday, but the duo is still an SEC-best 13-2 in dual-matches. • Pluskota and Williams have knocked off two top five doubles squads this season. Pluskota and Williams have defeated No. 3 Christian/Santamaria (USC) and No. 5 Frilling/Mathews (Notre Dame).
FIVE OF SIX
• Brynn Boren, Kata Szekely and Caitlyn Williams have each won five of their last six singles matches. Boren leads the Lady Vols with 18 wins in 2011-12, while Szekely is right behind with 17. They are tied for the team lead in dual-match wins with 10, while Williams is third with eight.
SCAN THESE NOW! MATCH CENTRAL
STATS
MATCH RECAP
For access to more info and links.
A link to the most updated Lady Vol stats.
A recap of Friday’s loss to Ole Miss.
TENNESSEE ROSTER & RECORDS Name (Singles/Doubles Rank) Brynn Boren (35/10) Jesse Grace Joanna Henderson Natalie Pluskota (28/9 & 17) Kata Szekely (37/17) Sarah Toti (--/10) Caitlyn Williams (--/9)
Year So. Fr. Fr. Sr. Jr. Fr. Fr.
Ht. 5-9 5-6 5-11 5-10 5-6 5-10 5-8
Hometown Laguna Niguel, Calif. Germiston, South Africa Aberdeen, Scotland Newnan, Ga. Szekesfehervar, Hungary Las Vegas, Nev. Knoxville, Tenn.
Co-Head Coaches: Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick (15th season) Volunteer Assistant Coach: Mario Toledo
MISSISSIPPI STATE ROSTER Name (Singles/Doubles Rank) Year Hometown Roseline Dion Petra Ferancova Ekaterina Iakovleva Alexandra Perper (91/44) Naomi Tran Olesya Tsigvintseva (--/44) Jordan Zachary
So. Fr. Jr. So. Fr. Sr. Sr.
Repenghny, Quebec Lucenac, Slovakia Vladivostok, Russia Chisinau, Moldova New South Wales, Australia Izhevsk, Russia Brandon, Miss.
Head Coach Daryl Greenan | Assistant Coach Courtney Steinbock
Singles 18-10/10-5 1-4/1-4 8-9/6-7 9-9/1-4 17-5/10-3 13-10/7-7 8-4/8-4
Doubles 24-5/13-2 0-3/0-3 12-6/10-2 16-7/7-3 19-4/10-2 24-5/13-2 8-8/7-7
ITA RANKINGS /// FEB. 28 TEAM
Team Tennessee
SINGLES
Name Natalie Pluskota Brynn Boren Kata Szekely
DOUBLES
Names Pluskota/Williams Boren/Toti Pluskota/Szekely
Now Prev. (2/28) 8 5 Now Prev. (2/16) 28 36 35 34 37 37 Now Prev. (2/16) 9 21 10 2 17 15
TRACKING TRENDS Three Lady Vols started new singles winning streaks Sunday, while Brynn Boren and Sarah Toti own a team-best 15 straight together in doubles. Here’s a look at Lady Vol winning streaks: Singles Brynn Boren Jesse Grace Joanna Henderson Natalie Pluskota Kata Szekely Sarah Toti Caitlyn Williams
Now Season Career 2 5 (2x) 6 -- 1 1 -- 5 5 -- 4 5 2 5 6 -- 4 4 1 4 4
Doubles Brynn Boren Jesse Grace Joanna Henderson Natalie Pluskota Kata Szekely Sarah Toti Caitlyn Williams
Now Season Career -- 15 15 -- -- -- 2 4 (2x) 4 (2x) -- 7 16 2 9 18 -- 15 15 -- 4 4
THE ITA TOP TEN
Rk 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Avg. Team 95.84 UCLA 75.06 Florida 72.84 Duke 71.06 USC 66.90 Stanford 62.91 Virginia 59.75 Georgia 59.15 TENNESSEE 57.60 Texas 56.82 California
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