TENNESSEE 2012 LADY VOL TENNIS MATCH THIRTEEN /// SEC OPENER
#5 TENNESSEE [9-3] VS. #15 FLORIDA [6-1] MARCH 2, 2012 /// BARKSDALE STADIUM /// KNOXVILLE, TENN.
MOST RECENT LINEUPS TENNESSEE
FLORIDA
Head Coaches: Mike Patrick & Sonia Hahn-Patrick
Head Coach: Roland Thornqvist
DOUBLES 2012 Total (Dual) 6-2 (6-2)
Name (Rank) 1. Oyen/Will (13)
Have defeated three of the current top five duos in the country...Have won six of last seven contests.
2. Boren/Toti (10)
23-3 (12-0)
2. Embree/Mather (31)
2012 Total (Dual) 7-1 (4-0)
CAITLYN WILLIAMS
Name (Rank) 1. Pluskota/Williams (9)
7-2 (4-0)
Have won 15 consecutive matches dating back to fall...12-0 in dual-match play...Have clinched doubles point eight times.
3. Henderson/Szekely
8-1 (8-1)
3. Cercone/Hitimana
2-1 (1-0)
Have won eight of nine together...5-1 from the No. 3 position..Have won four straight overall.
SINGLES
SCHEDULE /// 2012 SEASON
Name (Rank) 1. Natalie Pluskota (28)
2012 Dual 9-8 (1-3)
Name (Rank) 1. Allie Will (1)
2012 Total (Dual) 11-0 (6-0)
2. Brynn Boren (35)
16-9 (8-4)
2. Lauren Embree (23)
11-5 (4-2)
3. Kata Szekely (37)
15-4 (8-2)
3. Joanna Mather (18)
15-6 (3-2)
4. Caitlyn Williams
7-3 (7-3)
4. Alexandra Cercone (49)
15-5 (5-1)
21 22 27 28
5. Sarah Toti
13-7 (7-4)
5. Sofie Oyen (39)
13-2 (6-0)
FEBRUARY
6. Joanna Henderson
8-6 (6-4)
6. Olivia Janowicz
10-5 (3-1)
In search of 50th career win...Missed last three contests and is match-time decision...Would mark first meeting.
On three-match winning streak, all from No. 1 spot...16 wins are a team-high...Embree is highest-ranked opponent this season. Has won three straight...Is 7-2 against ranked opponents this season...3-2 from No. 3 position.
Holds team-best four-match winning streak, the highest of her young career...5-0 in weekend openers.
Has won seven of nine matches and is 5-1 from No. 5 spot...Oyen marks highest-ranked opponent of career. Holds a 5-0 record from the No. 6 position...Is 4-0 in Knoxville...Won last contest to snap two-match skid.
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: No. 2 USC, Tennessee...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.
LAST WEEKEND
• UT recorded its fourth shutout of the year, blanking UCF, 7-0, while playing outdoors for the first time in 2012.
y SCORING SYSTEM
SCOUTING FLORIDA
• Florida, the defending national champion, is 6-1 after a 7-0 win over Florida State at home Wednesday. The Gators had been ranked second nationally, before dropping to 15th in the first computer-generated poll of the season. The Gators returned their entire roster from the 2011 National Championship squad. • UF boasts the top-ranked player in the country in Allie Will, and five ranked players in singles overall. Joanna Mather (18), Lauren Embree (23), Sofie Oyen (39) and Alexandra Cercone (49) are also ranked. • Oyen and Will are ranked 13th in doubles, while Embree and Mather are No. 31. • Tennessee is 0-37 all-time against the Gators, including an 0-16 mark in Knoxville. • Florida’s lone loss (2-5) came at then-No. 1 Stanford. • The last meeting between the two came in the 2011 SEC Championships, hosted in Knoxville. UF won, 4-0.
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*
5 p.m. 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
8
Tennessee’s current ITA ranking, its first top-five rating since a No. 2 slot in May of 2001.
Opponents Tennessee has played ranked in the Top 25 in the Lady Vols’ first 12 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 all 12 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.
DOUBLE THE PLEASURE, DOUBLE THE FUN
• Tennessee has been stellar in doubles action thus far, winning 26 of its 31 overall matches. The Lady Vols have won the doubles point in all 12 contests, marking a program record to open the season. The duo of Brynn Boren and Sarah Toti lead UT at 12-0, while Joanna Henderson and Kata Szekely are 8-1, and Natalie Pluskota and Caitlyn Williams are 6-2. • The Boren-Toti combination has clinched the doubles point for UT a team-high eight times and is 23-3 overall. They’ve won 15 consecutive matches dating back to the fall and are an SEC-best 12-0 in dual-matches.
BATTLE TESTED
• Out of Tennessee’s 12 opponents this season, 10 have been ranked in the ITA poll at the time of the match. Additionally, UT has played four teams in the Top 10 and eight schools in the Top 25. • The Lady Vols have fared well against top-flight competition, going 7-3 against ranked opponents, 3-2 against Top 12 foes and 5-3 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.
• Tennessee has 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.
SEC OPENERS
• After facing UCF, the Lady Vols will open their SEC schedule next weekend in Knoxville, facing the No. 2 Florida Gators on Friday at 5 p.m. and No. 26 South Carolina on Sunday at 1 p.m.
STATS
MATCH PREVIEW
For access to the live blog, and more match info.
A link to the most updated Lady Vol stats.
Video preview 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.
Singles 16-9/8-4 1-2/1-2 8-6/6-4 9-8/1-3 15-4/8-2 13-7/7-4 7-3/7-3
Co-Head Coaches: Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick (15th season) Volunteer Assistant Coach: Mario Toledo
FLORIDA ROSTER Name (Singles/Doubles Rank) Year Hometown Claire Bartlett Alexandra Cercone (49/--) Lauren Embree (23/31) Caroline Hitimana Olivia Janowicz Joanna Mather (18/31) Sofie Oyen (39/13) Allie Will (1/13)
Sr. So. Jr. Jr. So. Sr. So. Jr.
TEAM
Team Tennessee
SINGLES
Name Natalie Pluskota Brynn Boren Kata Szekely
DOUBLES
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SCAN THESE NOW! MATCH CENTRAL
ITA RANKINGS /// FEB. 28
Chattanooga, Tenn. Seminole, Fla. Marco Island, Fla. Waterloo, Belgium Palm Bay, Fla. Duluth, Ga. Leopoldsburg, Belium Boca Raton, Fla.
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist (11th season) | Associate Head Coach Dave Balogh
Doubles 23-3/12-0 0-3/0-3 11-5/8-1 15-6/6-2 17-3/8-1 23-3/12-0 7-6/6-5
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 3 5 (2x) 6 1 1 1 1 5 5 -- 4 5 3 5 6 1 4 4 4 4 4
Doubles Brynn Boren Jesse Grace Joanna Henderson Natalie Pluskota Kata Szekely Sarah Toti Caitlyn Williams
Now Season Career 15 15 15 -- -- -- 4 4 (2x) 4 (2x) 2 7 16 4 9 18 15 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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