Alabama
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Alabama Women’s Tennis Hosts Chattanooga and Alabama A&M in Saturday Doubleheader
2/2/2018 10:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The Crimson Tide looks to remain undefeated this weekend as it faces The Mocs at 10 a.m. and the Bulldogs at 4 p.m. on Saturday
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama women's tennis team will host a pair of matches on Saturday, Feb. 3 at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility. Alabama will first face Chattanooga at 10 a.m. CT and will finish the day playing Alabama A&M at 4 p.m. CT.
LAST TIME ON THE COURT
The Crimson Tide (7-0) turned in an outstanding weekend, going 3-0 after defeating UCF, Belmont and UAB.
On Friday night, Alabama upset UCF, who received national votes in last week's poll, 4-3, to record its first road win of the season. After the Tide dropped the doubles point, Alabama battled back and ruptured the 3-3 tie after sophomore Alba Cortina-Pou solidified the win with a, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, comeback-victory over Silvia Bordes.
In Sunday's doubleheader, the Crimson Tide cruised past Belmont, 7-0, and completed the one-two punch with a shutout-win over instate-foe UAB, 4-0, at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility.
IN THE RANKINGS
After starting the 2018 season with its best start since 2009, the Alabama women's tennis team received votes in the Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Women's Division I National Team Rankings on Wednesday, as announced by the association.
SERVING UP 2018
Alabama opened its spring season on Jan. 13 after a successful fall slate, where the Crimson Tide competed in three tournaments, including the 30th Annual Roberta Alison Fall Classic at the end of October.
Alabama returns three letterwinners and welcomes five newcomers, including four transfers, to 2018.
Junior Andie Daniell comes back to the Capstone as the Tide's top player, ranking at No. 106 in the latest ITA rankings.
Daniell opened the fall season ranked at No. 37 on the ITA preseason list and finished fall play, 9-2, defeating one ranked opponent (No. 45 Lindsey Hodge, Rice University), while reaching the semifinal round of the 2017 ITA Southern Regional Championships.
Alabama tennis will use PlaySight, a live streaming technology, which provides the ability to live stream in high definition and record/store practice and match sessions to the indoor and outdoor tennis facilities.
MARKETING PROMOTIONS
Free Chik-Fil-A Chicken Biscuits for the first 50 fans at the 10 a.m. match and free pizza for the first 100 fans at the 4 p.m. match.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – CHATTANOOGA
Friday's match will mark the 14th meeting between the Crimson Tide and The Mocs, and Alabama holds the 7-6 edge over UTC. In the last meeting, Alabama shut out Chattanooga, 7-0, on Feb. 13, 2011.
The Mocs enter Saturday's competition, 2-0, after topping Belmont, 5-2, and Lipscomb, 4-2.
UTC ended its 2017 campaign with a 14-8 overall record and went 4-3 in the Southern Conference. Last year marked the sixth consecutive season the Mocs recorded 14 wins. Furthermore, Chattanooga returns all six starters from 2017.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – ALABAMA A&M
Sunday will mark the first meeting in program history between the Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide.
Alabama A&M ended its 2017 campaign with a 2-19 record, while registering a 2-7 mark in the Southwestern Athletic Conference
SEC PRESEASON POLL
The Crimson Tide was picked to finish 13th in the league as the conference coaches chose the Georgia Bulldogs to win it all on Jan. 24.
2017 REVIEW
Last season, the Crimson Tide was ranked in the ITA polls for 11 straight weeks (Feb. 28-May 24) and held its highest ranking at No. 33 on April 11 after the team defeated in-state rival No. 12 Auburn, 4-3. In the final ITA rankings, the Tide landed at No. 43. The squad also topped two other top-40 teams including No. 40 Tulsa (Feb. 24) and No. 13 Kentucky (March 24).
Former Crimson Tide tandem of Maddie Pothoff and Erin Routliffe highlighted the 2017 campaign, finishing as the runner-up at the NCAA Doubles Championship, which marked the third time in the last four year a Tide pairing made the NCAA double championship. The tandem ended the year as the second best team in the nation and registered four victories against ranked opponents in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. The most notable win the pair had on the year was in a 7-6 (4) decision against Kentucky's No. 4-ranked doubles team which helped the Tide edge the Wildcats for the 14th time in school history. Both Routliffe and Pothoff earned All-America honors and were named to the ITA Collegiate All-Star Team, while Pothoff also earned First Team All-SEC honors.
COMING UP
Alabama will embark on a three-match road swing in Seattle, Wash. The Crimson Tide will face Washington on Friday, Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. CT, and will follow with a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 10 against Portland and Eastern Washington University.
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaWTN on Twitter and Facebook and AlabamaWTN on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
Players Mentioned
