Women's Tennis to Play Utah in NCAA First Round
5/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 3, 2011
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The 26th-ranked women's tennis team (15-6) will head to Athens, Ga., to take on No. 49 Utah (16-9) in the first round of the 2011 NCAA Tennis Championships on Saturday, May 14, at 8 a.m. CT.
"This is something we have worked all year for," Alabama head coach Jenny Mainz said. "It's exciting to get to go to Georgia, and it's a really great opportunity. We are refreshed and ready to go represent Tuscaloosa and Alabama. It's going to be a good experience and a great way to kick off the postseason."
The Crimson Tide will be making its 10th appearance in the tournament, eight of which have come under Mainz. Alabama has advanced to the second round of play on four occasions, most recently in 2003.
"It was nerve racking at first not knowing where we were going, but once we found out, it was very exciting," freshman Mary Anne Macfarlane said. "Now we know what to prepare for, and we can just take it one match at a time."
The Tide has enjoyed much success in 2011 including an eight-match winning streak against Southeastern Conference opponents to end the regular season. Alabama was awarded a host of accolades by the SEC last week as Mainz was named Coach of the Year, Macfarlane named Freshman of the Year and junior Courtney McLane named Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition, Macfarlane earned All-Freshman honors and joined sophomore Alexa Guarachi on the All-SEC First Team, while McLane garnered All-SEC Second Team distinction.
Utah earned an automatic bid to the tournament after winning the 2011 Mountain West Conference Championships last weekend. The Utes are led by junior Anastasia Putilina, who recently earned Mountain West Conference Player of the Year honors.
Alabama and Utah have already met once this season as the two teams faced off at the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Ala., where the Tide came out with a 4-2 victory.
In the other first round match taking place in Athens, Ga., the No. 8 overall seed and host school Georgia (16-4), takes on Marist (13-7), the automatic qualifier from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The winner of that match will then face the winner of the Alabama/Utah match on Sunday, May 15, at 1 p.m. CT, with the victorious team in that contest advancing to the round of 16 in Palo Alto, Calif.
