Alabama
University of Georgia
Alabama Women’s Tennis Begins Four-Match Road Swing at No. 8 Georgia and No. 38 Tennessee
3/28/2018 10:23:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The Crimson Tide will face the Bulldogs on Thursday at 5 p.m. CT, and then battle the Volunteers on Saturday at noon CT
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama women's tennis team will hit the road this week to face No. 8 Georgia on March 29 at 5 p.m. CT, and will later battle No. 38 Tennessee on March 31 at noon CT.
LAST TIME ON THE COURT
The Crimson Tide dropped a pair of matches last week, falling to then-No. 17 Florida, 4-0, and slipping to then-No. 8 South Carolina, 4-1, on Saturday.
Junior Andie Daniell highlighted singles action as the Douglasville, Ga., native upset her second ranked opponent of the season, downing No. 52 Ingrid Gamarra Martins of USC in straight sets at No. 1, 6-2, 6-3. Her first win against a ranked opponent came on March 2 when she took down No. 117 Justina Mikulskyte of Kentucky, 7-6(3), 6-2.
CRIMSON TIDE NOTABLES
Daniell continues to dominate the field, as she leads the team with a 13-5 mark in dual play at No. 1, while senior Smith Hinton and sophomore Alba Cortina-Pou have both won 10 singles matches apiece. In doubles play, Hinton and sophomore Jacqueline Pelletier have led the charge with a 9-4 record, including an 8-4 mark at No. 3.
Alabama started the season with a nine-match winning streak, which was the best start in program history since 2009.
IN THE RANKINGS
Alabama women's tennis was featured on the Oracle/ITA Division I Women's Team computerized rankings for three-straight weeks this season. The Crimson Tide landed at No. 49 with a 14.00 average on March 6 and came in at No. 37 with a 17.75 average on Feb. 27. The Crimson Tide earned its highest rank at No. 31 with a 20.41 average in the first computerized rankings on Feb. 20.
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. On March 6, Daniell ranked at No. 124 with a 5.07 average and came in at No. 118 with a 4.93 average on Feb. 20 on the Oracle/ITA computerized singles rankings.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – GEORGIA
Thursday's match will mark the 47th meeting between the two conference squads, and the Bulldogs lead the series, 42-4. In the last meeting, the 13th-ranked Bulldogs topped the Crimson Tide, 6-1, on March 10, 2017. Alabama's last victory over UGA came on March 6, 2015, when the Tide downed Georgia 5-2 in Athens.
Georgia comes into Thursday's contest as the 8th-ranked team in the nation with a 10-4 overall record, while sitting fourth in the league standings with a 5-2 mark.
In singles, four Bulldogs rank inside the Top 125 while No. 6 Katarina Jokic leads the charge. Jokic owns an 8-2 record at No. 1 in dual action and sports a 27-5 record since the fall season. In doubles, two pairings rank inside the Top 15 including No. 9 Jokic/Gould and No. 11 Christofi/Coppoc.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – TENNESSEE
Saturday's match will mark the 49th meeting between Alabama and Tennessee, and the Volunteers lead the series, 29-19. Last year, the Crimson Tide faced the Volunteers twice, once during the regular season and the second in the first round of the 2017 SEC Tournament. On both occasions, the Tide fell to UT 4-3 on March 12, and 4-0 on April 19.
The Lady Vols enter Saturday's match as the 38th-ranked team in the nation with a 13-7 record and a 0-7 mark in SEC play.
UT kicked off the season with 12 consecutive wins, which marked the team's best start in program history.
COMING UP
Alabama will wrap up its four-match road swing facing No. 48 Arkansas on April 6 and Missouri on April 8.
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
