TENNESSEE 2012 LADY VOL TENNIS MATCH TWENTY-THREE /// SENIOR DAY
#19 TENNESSEE [13-9, 4-5 SEC] VS. #11 ALABAMA [14-3, 8-1 SEC] APRIL 8, 2012 /// BARKSDALE STADIUM /// KNOXVILLE, TENN.
PROJECTED LINEUPS TENNESSEE
ALABAMA
Head Coaches: Mike Patrick & Sonia Hahn-Patrick
Head Coach: Jenny Mainz
DOUBLES 2012 Total (Dual) 13-1 (6-0)
Name (Rank) 1. Guarachi/McLane (19)
2012 Total (Dual) 14-2 (12-2)
NATALIE PLUSKOTA
Name (Rank) 1. Pluskota/Szekely (18)
Pluskota & Szekely have won all six dual matches and are 3-1 overall against ranked opponents...All wins by at least four points.
2. Boren/Williams
1-0 (1-0)
2. Foehse/Macfarlane (47) 15-2 (13-2)
3. Henderson/Grace
1-1 (1-1)
3. Ebada/Lindsey
Name (Rank) 1. Natalie Pluskota (29)
2012 Total (Dual) 12-9 (4-4)
Name (Rank) 2012 Total (Dual) 1. Mary Anne Macfarlane (23) 30-11 (11-6)
2. Brynn Boren (28)
23-10 (15-5)
2. Alexa Guarachi (56)
26-7 (11-4)
3. Kata Szekely (49)
21-8 (14-6)
3. Courtney McLane
19-10 (9-4)
4. Caitlyn Williams
9-6 (9-6)
4. Alex Clay
10-8 (8-7)
21 22 27 28
5. Joanna Henderson
11-13 (9-11)
5. Antonia Foehse
24-7 (9-2)
FEBRUARY
6. Jesse Grace
3-10 (3-10)
6. Taylor Lindsey
22-10 (11-4)
Boren and Williams made debut together vs. Kentucky with 8-6 win to clinch doubles point after trailing 6-4. Tandem clinched Tennessee’s doubles point vs. Arkansas with 8-6 win...Suffered 8-5 loss vs. Kentucky.
11-3 (9-3)
SINGLES Last home match...Win over Kentucky was first singles action since March 11...Has won last three matches and is 3-1 in SEC play. Won career-high seventh straight Friday and clinched second straight (third overall) win for UT...Is 7-1 in SEC play.
Has won three of last four...Became third Lady Vol this season to win 50th career match in 2012 with win vs. Kentucky. Match-time decision...Opened April with 6-1, 6-1 win vs. UK after missing previous two matches...Is 2-2 in SEC play. Match-time decision after twisting ankle vs. Auburn and being forced to retire match. Has played at spots 4-6...Last two losses have come in three-set tiebreaker efforts.
THE STORYLINES SENIOR DAY
• Prior to Sunday’s match, senior Natalie Pluskota will be honored on the court during a brief presentation. For more on Pluskota’s phenomenal UT career, see the flip side of the notes.
ITA RANKINGS
• Tennessee is now rated 22nd in the nation in the latest Campbell/ITA College Tennis Rankings, released Tuesday (April 3). The Lady Vols have been ranked as high as fifth this season (Feb. 28). • UT is one of five schools with at least three players ranked in the Top 50 (Boren-28, Pluskota-29, Szekely-49).
INJURY BUG
• Tennessee has played four of its last five without a full singles lineup. Brynn Boren, Joanna Henderson, Natalie Pluskota, Caitlyn Williams and Sarah Toti have all been limited with various injuries.
y SCORING SYSTEM
SCOUTING ALABAMA
• Ranked 11th, Alabama is Tennessee’s 19th ranked opponent in 23 matches and 13th in the Top 25. • Alabama has won 10 of its last 11, including Friday’s 4-3 win at #5 Georgia. It was just the Bulldogs’ third loss overall and second in SEC play. • Tennessee is 30-13 all-time against Alabama and has won six of the last seven meetings. The Tide’s lone win in that span came last season as Alabama won, 5-2. • The Lady Vols hold a 15-5 edge in the series in Knoxville.
ON FRIDAY...
• Tennessee won its second consecutive match for the first time since closing February with four straight wins. The Lady Vols defeated Auburn, 4-3, despite defaulting the No. 3 spot in doubles, No. 6 in singles and retiring No. 4 in singles. UT won doubles and got wins from Natalie Pluskota, Kata Szekely and Brynn Boren.
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, 4-1 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 #67 UNLV at #49 LSU* #37 Arkansas* at #25 Vanderbilt*
L, 7-0 W, 4-3 L, 5-2 W, 7-0 L, 4-3 L, 5-2 L, 4-3 L, 6-1
at Kentucky* W, 6-1 #63 Auburn* W, 4-3 #11 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.
SENIOR NATALIE PLUSKOTA /// BY THE NUMBERS
1
Natalie Pluskota and Caitlin Whoriskey became the first Tennessee tandem to ever reach the finals of the 2010 NCAA Doubles Championships. The duo was ranked No. 1 in 10 consecutive polls and finished the 2010 season slotted No. 1. Additionally, their only loss came in the Championship match (10-1).
2
Pluskota has earned two doubles All-American honors, in 2009 and 2010, becoming just the seventh Lady Vol all-time to earn multiple All-American distinctions. Additionally, she has been selected to All-SEC teams twice (First Team in 2011 and Second Team in 2009).
4
31 102
Pluskota has won four doubles titles in tournament play at Tennessee: 2008 SEC Fall Coaches’ Classic (White Draw), 2009 Furman Fall Classic (Flight 1), 2010 ITA All-American Tournament and 2011 USTA/ ITA Ohio Valley Regional.
8
On March 30, playing alongside Kata Szekely, Pluskota became just the eighth player in program history to win 100 doubles matches, reaching the milestone with an 8-3 win over No. 27Jackie Wu and Lauren Mira of Vanderbilt.
16
During her freshman season, Pluskota set a career-high that still stands today, winning 16 consecutive doubles matches (Nov. 6, 2008-March 13, 2009). She later reached the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championships that season with Caitlin Whoriskey.
As a freshman, Pluskota tied with Melissa Schaub (2003) for the third-most doubles wins by a freshman in Tennessee history, behind Paula and Peta Kelly (41 each in 1979), who share the career doubles wins record with 156. She finished that season 31-11, including 12 ranked wins, one of those over No. 2 Kelcy Tefft and Kristy Frilling (Notre Dame).
Heading into Sunday’s match against Alabama, Pluskota ranks eighth all-time at Tennessee with 102 doubles wins (102-32). The chart below (bottom right) looks at the Top 8 in Tennessee history. She can tie for seventh with three more wins, sixth with four more wins and she can reach Top 5 with eight more wins.
PLUSKOTA TRIBUTE VIDEO
TENNESSEE ROSTER & RECORDS Name (Singles/Doubles Rank) Brynn Boren (28/21) Jesse Grace Joanna Henderson Natalie Pluskota (29/12 & 18) Kata Szekely (49/18) Sarah Toti (--/21) Caitlyn Williams (--/12)
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
ALABAMA ROSTER Name (Singles/Doubles Rank) Alex Clay Yasmine Ebada Antonia Foehse Alexa Guarachi Taylor Lindsey Mary Anne Macfarlane Courtney McLane Emily Zabor
Year So. Fr. Jr. Jr. Sr. So. Sr. Fr.
Hometown Grayson, Ga. Cairo, Egypt Waldbroel, Germany Destin, Fla. Vestavia Hills, Ala. Ogden, Utah Lawrenceville, Ga. Marietta, Ga.
Head Coach Jenny Mainz | Assistant Coach Drake Bernstein
Singles 23-10/15-5 3-10/3-10 11-13/9-11 12-9/4-4 21-8/14-6 15-11/9-8 9-6/9-6
Doubles 27-7/16-4 4-6/4-6 17-7/14-3 23-8/14-4 26-4/17-2 26-7/15-4 11-8/10-7
For a special message from the 2012 Lady Vol tennis team to Natalie, scan the QR code with your smart phone.
REACHING 100... Last Friday, Natalie Pluskota can become the eighth Lady Vol in UT history to record 100 doubles wins. Name Years Doubles Wins 1. Paula Kelly 1978-82 156 Peta Kelly 1978-82 156 3. Crystal Cleveland 1999-2003 119 4. Caitlin Whoriskey 2006-10 113 5. Rosalia Alda 2007-11 110 6. Zsofia Zubor 2006-10 106 7. Alison Ojeda 1998-2002 105 8. Natalie Pluskota 2008-Pres. 102
y ONLINE SERVICES
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