TENNESSEE 2012 LADY VOL TENNIS MATCH FOURTEEN
#5 TENNESSEE [9-4, 0-1] AT #22 SOUTH CAROLINA [7-2, 0-1] MARCH 4, 2012 /// BARKSDALE STADIUM /// KNOXVILLE, TENN.
PROJECTED LINEUPS TENNESSEE
SOUTH CAROLINA
Head Coaches: Mike Patrick & Sonia Hahn-Patrick
Interim Head Coach: Katarina Petrovic
DOUBLES 2012 Total (Dual) 6-3 (6-3)
Name (Rank) 1. Kanakova/Morgina
Pluskota and Williams returned to action Friday, losing for just the third time this season.
2. Boren/Toti (10)
23-4 (12-1)
2. Alawi/Pereira
Winning streak of 15 came to an end Friday, losing for the first time in 2012...12 wins lead SEC.
3. Andersson/Popova
2012 Total (Dual) 6-2 (2-1) 0-1 (0-1)
BRYNN BOREN
Name (Rank) 1. Pluskota/Williams (9)
3. Henderson/Szekely
8-2 (8-2)
Name (Rank) 1. Natalie Pluskota (28)
2012 Dual 9-8 (1-3)
Name (Rank) 1. Anya Morgina (34)
2012 Total (Dual) 13-4 (7-1)
2. Brynn Boren (35)
16-10 (8-5)
2. Jaklin Alawi (64)
17-4 (6-2)
3. Kata Szekely (37)
15-5 (8-3)
3. Dominika Kanakova
13-4 (6-2)
4. Caitlyn Williams
7-4 (7-4)
4. Katerina Popova
12-8 (5-3)
21 22 27 28
5. Sarah Toti
13-8 (7-5)
5. Adriana Pereira
11-4 (3-2)
FEBRUARY
6. Joanna Henderson
8-7 (6-5)
6. Josefin Andersson
9-5 (2-2)
Have won eight of 10 together...Have won four of last five...Have won six contests by at least six points.
7-5 (1-1)
SINGLES In search of 50th career win...Missed last four contests and is match-time decision.
Took nation’s top-ranked player Allie Will to third-set tiebreaker...16 wins are a team-high.
Three-match win streak snapped Friday..Is 7-3 against ranked opponents this season...3-2 from No. 3 position. Career-best four-match winning streak snapped Friday...All seven wins have come in straight sets. Has shared time at positions three, four and five this season...Three-time SEC Freshman of the Week. Has played four straight matches from the No. 5 position...Has played two tiebreakers in 2012.
THE STORYLINES LATEST ITA RANKINGS (FEB. 28)
• Tennessee is now rated fifth in the nation in the latest Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings, released Tuesday, marking the Lady Vols’ first top-five ranking since being second in May 2001. • The Lady Vols jumped up five spots after being ranked 10th in the previous two polls. • 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 FRIDAY...
• UT lost its SEC opener to Florida, 7-0, on Friday, losing the doubles point for the first time this season.
y SCORING SYSTEM
SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA
• South Carolina is ranked 22nd and has won seven of its nine matches, including a victory over No. 17 Clemson. • The Gamecocks also dropped their SEC opener on Friday, falling 6-1, at No. 4 Georgia. Adriana Pereira was responsible for South Carolina’s lone point. • Tennessee boasts a 23-17 all-time record against South Carolina, and has won 10 of the last 12 meetings. • The last three meetings have been decided by one point, including two in UT’s favor. Last season, Tennessee won a 4-3 decision in Columbia.
HOME SWEET HOME
• Tennessee started 4-0 at home for the fifth consecutive year and has accomplished the feat 12 times under co-head coaches Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick. The Lady Vols are 4-1 at home now.
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.)
SCHEDULE /// 2012 SEASON 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
Florida* South Carolina* at Ole Miss* at Mississippi State* at UNLV at LSU* Arkansas* at Vanderbilt*
L, 0-7 1 p.m. 4 p.m. 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
5
Tennessee’s current ITA ranking, its first top-five rating since a No. 2 slot in May of 2001.
9
Opponents Tennessee has played ranked in the Top 25 in the Lady Vols’ first 13 matches. UT has won five of those.
12
Brynn Boren and Sarah Toti’s 12 dual-match wins lead all SEC tandems. Tennessee has also won the doubles point in 12 of 13 matches.
MORE NOTES: SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK (X’s 3)
• Sarah Toti was recognized as the Southeastern Conference’s Freshman of the Week in each the first three weeks of the season. • 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. • The Las Vegas, Nev., native is the fifth Lady Vol in UT history to earn the honor. Pluskota garnered the recognition twice as a rookie.
BATTLE TESTED
• Out of Tennessee’s 13 opponents this season, 11 have been ranked in the ITA poll at the time of the match. Additionally, UT has played four teams in the Top 10 and nine schools in the Top 25. • The Lady Vols have fared well against top-flight competition, going 7-4 against ranked opponents, 3-2 against Top 12 foes and 5-4 against Top 25 schools. • Two of those Top 12 and Top 25 losses came in the first two matches of the season vs. No. 4 UNC and No. 9 UVa as UT played with an incomplete lineup.
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE, DOUBLE THE FUN
• Tennessee has been stellar in doubles action thus far, winning 26 of its 34 overall matches. The Lady Vols won the doubles point in their first 12 contests, marking a program record to open the season. The duo of Brynn Boren and Sarah Toti lead UT at 12-1, while Joanna Henderson and Kata Szekely are 8-2, and Natalie Pluskota and Caitlyn Williams are 6-3. • The Boren-Toti combination has clinched the doubles point for UT a team-high eight times and is 23-4 overall. Their 15 match-win streak was snapped Friday, but the duo is still an SEC-best 12-0 in dual-matches. • Pluskota and Williams have knocked off three of the current top five doubles squads this season. Pluskota and Williams have defeated No. 2 Frilling/ Mathews (Notre Dame), No. 3 Christian/Santamaria (USC) and No. 5 Bolender/Bektas (Michigan).
PLUSKOTA RETURNS
• After missing three matches with a foot injury, senior Natalie Pluskota returned Friday, but was limited to doubles action.
SCAN THESE NOW! MATCH CENTRAL
STATS
MATCH RECAP
For access to the live blog, and more match info.
A link to the most updated Lady Vol stats.
Video recap of Friday’s match.
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
SOUTH CAROLINA ROSTER Name (Singles/Doubles Rank) Year Hometown Jaklin Alawi (64/52) Josefin Andersson Stephanie Cox Dina Guzairova Dominika Kanakova Anya Morgina (34/52) Adriana Pereira Katerina Popova Dijana Stojic (71/--)
Jr. Jr. Sr. Fr. So. Sr. Jr. So. Sr.
Interim Head Coach Katarina Petrovic
Sofia, Bulgaria Malmoe, Sweden Myrtle Beach, S.C. Sochi, Russia Frydek-Mistek, Czech Republic Moscow, Russia Asuncion, Paraguay Moscow, Russia Makarska, Croatia
Singles 16-10/8-5 1-3/1-3 8-7/6-5 9-8/1-3 15-5/8-3 13-8/7-5 7-4/7-4
Doubles 23-4/12-1 0-3/0-3 11-6/8-2 15-7/6-3 17-4/8-2 23-4/12-1 7-7/6-6
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. (2/22) 5 10 Now Prev. (2/16) 28 36 35 34 37 37 Now Prev. (2/16) 9 21 10 2 17 15
TRACKING TRENDS Caitlyn Williams leads the Lady Vols with four straight singles wins, while Brynn Boren and Sarah Toti have reeled off 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 -- 5 (2x) 6 -- 1 1 -- 5 5 -- 4 5 -- 5 6 -- 4 4 -- 4 4
Doubles Brynn Boren Jesse Grace Joanna Henderson Natalie Pluskota Kata Szekely Sarah Toti Caitlyn Williams
Now Season Career -- 15 15 -- -- -- -- 4 (2x) 4 (2x) -- 7 16 -- 9 18 -- 15 15 -- 4 4
THE ITA TOP TEN
Rk 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Avg. Team 90.05 UCLA 74.66 USC 73.90 Duke 68.20 Georgia 62.29 TENNESSEE 61.82 Virginia 58.18 California 57.79 Northwestern 57.40 Texas 55.61 Miami (Fla.)
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