No. 24 Women's Tennis Heads to SEC Tournament
4/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
April 22, 2009
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The 24th-ranked women's tennis team (14-7, 4-7 SEC) heads to Fayetteville, Ark. this week to compete in the 2009 SEC Women's Tennis Tournament. The Crimson Tide earned the No. 8 seed and will face the No. 9 seed and 33rd-ranked Auburn (11-11, 3-7 SEC) on Thursday, April 23 at 8:30 a.m. (CST). This will be the second meeting between the two teams in the last five days.
"This league is arguably stronger than it has ever been," said head coach Jenny Mainz. "We've got to be ready to battle and compete on the first ball. Auburn was tough last week and was in the match at every court. We have to be ready to go and be looking for our opportunities. This is a great time for us to really raise our level and step up to the occasion."
Alabama heads into the tournament coming off a big win over Auburn in the last match of the regular season. The Tide won the doubles point and was able to hold off the Tigers in singles play to claim a 4-3 victory. The win gave Alabama a 4-7 record in conference play this season, which was good enough for a third place finish in the SEC West.
The Tide last won a match at the SEC Tournament in 2006, when it defeated Mississippi State before falling to Kentucky. Last season, Alabama fell in the opening round to LSU 4-1.
Should the Tide defeat Auburn, it will advance to the quarterfinals and play top seeded Georgia, which defeated Alabama 6-1 earlier this season in Tuscaloosa.
All action of the 2009 SEC Women's Tennis Tournament will take place at the George M. Billingsley Tennis Center. For more information, including live scoring, please click here or visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
