Alabama
University of Kentucky
No. 37 Alabama Women’s Tennis Opens Conference Slate at No. 15 Kentucky and No. 4 Vanderbilt
3/1/2018 10:09:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The Crimson Tide will face the Wildcats March 2 at 5 p.m. CT and will battle the Commodores March 4 at 1 p.m. CT
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 37 Alabama women's tennis team kicks off its Southeastern Conference slate this weekend when it travels to Lexington, Ky. to face Kentucky on March 2, and will later compete against No. 4 Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn. on March 4. Friday's match begins at 5 p.m. CT while opening serve on Sunday is set for 1 p.m. CT.
LAST TIME ON THE COURT
The Crimson Tide wrapped up competition at the 70th playing of the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic last weekend in Montgomery, Ala. and registered a 1-2 mark. Alabama took down Utah, 4-3, in round one, but fell to then-No. 10 Wake Forest, 4-2, in round two and then-No. 26 Auburn, 4-0, in round three.
Sophomore Ann Selim highlighted the Classic posting a 2-1 outing, defeating Utah's Taylor Calton, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 6, and topping Wake Forest's Joanna Zalewski, 6-0, 6-3, at No. 5.
CRIMSON TIDE NOTABLES
Junior Andie Daniell continues to dominate the field, as she leads Alabama with a 9-3 mark in dual play at No. 1, while Selim has turned in an 8-2 record this spring. In doubles, Daniell and Selim as a pair have emerged as the Tide's top tandem, sporting a 6-3 record at No. 1.
In the conference, Selim and sophomore Jacqueline Pelletier are tied for second with the best record at No. 5 with a 4-0 mark, while freshman Kylie Moulin rounds out the top five (3-0).
IN THE RANKINGS
Alabama women's tennis team was featured on the Oracle/ITA Division I Women's Team Rankings for the second consecutive week of the season on Tuesday. The Crimson Tide landed at No. 37 on the list with a 17.75 average. Last week, the Tide sat at No. 31 with a 20.41 average. In singles, Daniell was featured on the first computerized rankings back on Feb. 20 and came in at No. 118 with a 4.93 average.
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 – KENTUCKY
Friday's match will mark the 42nd meeting between the two conference squads and the Wildcats lead the series, 27-14. In the last meeting, 45th-ranked Alabama upset the 13th-ranked Wildcats in a 4-2 decision in Tuscaloosa on March 24, 2017, to pick up the Tide's first conference win of the season.
Kentucky enters Friday's contest as the 15th-ranked team in the country and sports an 8-2 record. The Wildcats have shut out two opponents, while topping two Top-25 ranked teams this season including then-No. 16 Baylor, 4-1, and then-No. 22 Arizona State, 4-2.
SEC Player of the Week Diana Tkachenko helped stretch Kentucky's win streak to five, going undefeated in singles last week. She has won four straight singles matches and earned her first ranked singles win of the season vs. No. 22 Arizona State, taking down No. 107 Nicole Fossa Huergo in straight sets.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – VANDERBILT
Sunday's match will mark the 44th meeting between Vanderbilt and Alabama, and the Commodores lead the series, 26-17. The last time out, then-No. 8 Vandy defeated the Tide, 6-1, in 2017.
Vanderbilt enters Sunday's match as the fourth-ranked team in the nation while owning a 9-2 record, including a win over top-ranked UNC, 4-3, in Chapel Hill, N.C. The triumph marked its third ranked win over a top-three team and second win over the top-ranked squad in the country. Vandy previously swept then-No. 1 Stanford on Feb. 3.
No. 24 Christian Rosca and Amanda Meyer have led the charge with an undefeated record at No. 3 and 6 respectively. Rosco has turned in a 7-0 record while Meyer owns a 5-0 mark. Furthermore, Rosca and Meyer have remained perfect at No. 3, 4-0, in doubles play.
COMING UP
Alabama will begin its SEC home slate on Thursday, March 8 when it faces No. 7 Ole Miss at 5 p.m. CT. On Saturday, the Crimson Tide will host Mississippi State and UT Martin in a doubleheader for the Power of Pink match at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. In addition, the Tide will also host an Alumni Reunion March 9-11 surrounding Saturday's doubleheader. To join the much-anticipated weekend, RSVP with Coach Jenny Mainz at jmainz@ia.ua.edu.
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
