TENNESSEE 2012 LADY VOL TENNIS MATCH FIFTEEN
#8 TENNESSEE [10-4, 1-1] AT #25 OLE MISS [8-5, 1-1] MARCH 9, 2012 /// PALMER/SALLOUM TENNIS CENTER /// OXFORD, MISS.
PROJECTED LINEUPS TENNESSEE
OLE MISS
Head Coaches: Mike Patrick & Sonia Hahn-Patrick
Head Coach: Mark Beyers
DOUBLES Name (Rank) 1. Pluskota/Williams (9)
2012 Total (Dual) 7-3 (7-3)
Name (Rank) 1. Boxx/Guthrie (7)
Pluskota and Williams returned to action Friday, going 1-1 last weekend...2-0 against Top 10 teams.
2. Boren/Toti (10)
24-4 (13-1)
2. Rangel/Stephens
Winning streak of 15 came to an end Friday, losing for the first time in 2012...13 wins lead SEC.
3. Henderson/Szekely
9-2 (9-2)
3. Jones/Rohde-Moe
2012 Total (Dual) 19-5 (10-1) 16-9 (9-4) 6-11 (4-6)
Have won nine of 11 together...Have won five of last six...Have won eight contests by at least five points.
SINGLES
SCHEDULE /// 2012 SEASON
Name (Rank) 1. Natalie Pluskota (28)
2012 Dual 9-8 (1-3)
Name (Rank) 1. Kristi Boxx (22)
2. Brynn Boren (35)
17-10 (9-5)
2. Caroline Rohde-Moe (63) 19-6 (9-3)
3. Kata Szekely (37)
16-5 (9-3)
3. Erin Stephens
11-17 (2-6)
4. Caitlyn Williams
8-4 (8-4)
4. Julia Jones
14-11 (9-2)
21 22 27 28
5. Sarah Toti
13-9 (7-6)
5. Abby Guthrie
10-12 (7-5)
FEBRUARY
6. Joanna Henderson
8-8 (6-6)
6. Vivian Vlaar
7-5 (7-3)
In search of 50th career win...Missed last five contests and is match-time decision.
2012 Total (Dual) 17-7 (7-4)
KATA SZEKELY
Took nation’s top-ranked player Allie Will to third-set tiebreaker...16 wins are a team-high...Won last four of five from No. 1 spot. Has won four of five from No. 2 spot...Provided tying point vs. So. Carolina (3-3) after winning a third-set tiebreaker.
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 three of four. Has played five 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 3-0 on the road 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 OLE MISS
• Ole Miss is ranked 25th after splitting its SEC opening weekend, defeating Auburn 7-0 and falling to No. 25 Alabama, 5-2. • Against Alabama, senior Kristi Boxx became Ole Miss’ all-time leader in career doubles wins with 103. • Tennessee and Ole Miss are the only two schools to have an individual win SEC Freshman of the Week. Sarah Toti won the first three, followed by UM’s Erin Stephens and Julia Jones. UT’s Caitlyn Williams won the award this week. • Tennessee is 25-15 all-time against Ole Miss, including an 8-6 mark in Oxford. The Lady Vols have won 13 of the last 15 meetings.
LAST WEEKEND
• Tennessee dropped its SEC opener, 7-0, to Florida last Friday, before rebounding for a 4-3 comeback win vs. South Carolina on Sunday after trailing 3-2.
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
Florida* South Carolina* at Ole Miss* at Mississippi State* at UNLV at LSU* Arkansas* at Vanderbilt*
L, 0-7 W, 4-3 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
4
10
Consecutive UT wins that Caitlyn Williams has provided the match-clinching point for.
Opponents Tennessee has played ranked in the Top 25 in the Lady Vols’ first 14 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 14 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 14 opponents this season, 12 have been ranked in the ITA poll at the time of the match. Additionally, UT has played four teams in the Top 10 and 10 schools in the Top 25. • The Lady Vols have fared well against top-flight competition, going 8-4 against ranked opponents, 3-2 against Top 12 foes and 5-4 against Top 25 schools. • Three of UT’s four 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 29 of its 38 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 14 times. The duo of Brynn Boren and Sarah Toti lead UT at 13-1, while Joanna Henderson and Kata Szekely are 9-2, and Natalie Pluskota and Caitlyn Williams are 7-3. • The Boren-Toti combination has clinched the doubles point for UT a team-high eight times and is 24-4 overall. Their 15 match-win streak was snapped Friday, but the duo is still an SEC-best 13-1 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).
KATA IN CONTROL
• Kata Szekely has won four of five matches, all from the No. 2 spot, after losing consecutively for the first and only time this season. • Defeating No. 64 Jaklin Alawi 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (5) Sunday, Szekely moved to 8-3 against ranked opponents this season, including a pair of wins vs. the Top 30.
SCAN THESE NOW! MATCH CENTRAL
STATS
MATCH RECAP
For access to more info and links.
A link to the most updated Lady Vol stats.
Video recap of Saturday’s comeback win over So. Carolina.
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
OLE MISS ROSTER Name (Singles/Doubles Rank) Year Hometown Kristi Boxx (22/7) Abby Guthrie (--/7) Julia Jones Paige Keating Gabby Rangel Caroline Rohde-Moe (63/--) Santa Shumilina Erin Stephens Iris Verboven Vivian Vlaar
Sr. Sr. Fr. Fr. Sr. So. Fr. Fr. Fr. So.
Grenada, Miss. Auckland, New Zealand McComb, Miss. Menlo Park, Calif. Hendersonville, Tenn. Blommenholm, Norway Moscow, Russia Santa Rosa Beach, Fla. Waalre, Netherlands Kinrooi, Belgium
Head Coach Mark Beyers | Assistant Coach Jason Ontog
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. (2/28) 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 1 5 (2x) 6 -- 1 1 -- 5 5 -- 4 5 1 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 1 15 15 -- -- -- 1 4 (2x) 4 (2x) 1 7 16 1 9 18 1 15 15 1 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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