Alabama
University of Utah
No. 31 Alabama Women’s Tennis Set to Compete in 70th Blue Gray Tennis Classic
2/22/2018 9:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The Crimson Tide will face Utah in round one of the Classic at 9 a.m. CT
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – No. 31 Alabama women's tennis heads to Montgomery, Ala. to compete in the 70th playing of the prestigious Blue Gray National Tennis Classic Feb. 23-24. The Crimson Tide (11-1) will open competition facing the University of Utah (6-1) at 9 a.m. CT at Lagoon Park, along with an opponent to be announced after the morning matches. UA will complete the doubles portion of the second match at 3:30 p.m. CT, before finishing singles play the following day at 10 a.m.
Alabama comes into the tournament as the No. 4 seed in the eight-team tournament, with 5th-ranked Illinois claiming the top seed.
LAST TIME ON THE COURT
The Crimson Tide went 2-1 two weeks ago in Seattle, Wash. Despite falling to then-No. 24 Washington on Friday, Feb. 9, the Crimson Tide bounced back, toppling over Portland, 4-0, and Eastern Washington, 6-1, on Saturday, Feb. 10.
CRIMSON TIDE NOTABLES
Junior Andie Daniell continues to dominate the field, as she defeated her ninth singles opponent this season in Seattle, while sporting an 11-1 record in doubles play.
IN THE RANKINGS
After starting the 2018 season with its best start since 2009, the Alabama women's tennis team and Daniell were featured on the first computerized Oracle/ITA Division I Women's Team and Singles Rankings of the season Feb. 20. The Crimson Tide landed at No. 31 on the list with a 20.41 average while Daniell was ranked at No. 118 with a 4.93 average, 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.
Daniell comes back to the Capstone as the Tide's top player, and ranked as high as No. 89 this season in the ITA singles national rankings (Feb. 7). 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.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – UTAH
Friday's match will mark the fourth meeting between the Crimson Tide and Utah, and Alabama leads the series, 2-1. In the last meeting at the 2011 Blue Gray Tennis Classic, UA downed Utah, 4-2.
Utah enters Friday's contest on a six-match winning streak after topping Minnesota, DePaul, Utah State, Denver, Weber State and Boise State.
Taylor Calton was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week on Tuesday after helping Utah go undefeated last week after she went 4-0 in both doubles and singles and only lost one set in her last four matches.
COMING UP
Alabama will begin its Southeastern Conference slate March 2, facing the No. 20 Kentucky Wildcats at 5 p.m. CT, and will then face No. 7 Vanderbilt on Mar. 4 at 1 p.m. CT.
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
