Alabama
University of Mississippi
No. 49 Alabama Women’s Tennis Sets for Three-Match Homestand
3/7/2018 9:42:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The Crimson Tide will face the Rebels on March 8 at 5 p.m. CT, and will later host the Bulldogs and the Skyhawks on March 10
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 49 Alabama women's tennis team kicks off its Southeastern Conference home slate this week when it hosts No. 12 Ole Miss on March 8 and a doubleheader featuring Mississippi State and UT Martin on March 10. Thursday's SEC matchup begins at 5 p.m. CT, while Saturday's match against the Bulldogs starts at noon. Alabama will wrap up its doubleheader action on Saturday facing the Skyhawks at 6 p.m. CT.
The Crimson Tide will also be hosting a much-anticipated Alumni Reunion March 9-11 while Saturday's doubleheader will serve as the Power of Pink match.
PROMOTIONS
Thursday: Crimson Racket Club Cookout and TV raffle
Saturday: Power of Pink; Alumni Reuntion; Free T-Shirts for the first 75 fans; Free Taco Mama for the first 100 fans
LAST TIME ON THE COURT
The Crimson Tide opened conference play on the road facing then-No. 15 Kentucky and then-No. 4 Vanderbilt. In Lexington, Ky., Alabama dropped a heartbreaker, 4-3, and later fell to the Commodores, 4-0, in Nashville, Tenn.
Junior Andie Daniell won her first match over a ranked opponent this season, downing No. 117 Justina Mikulskyte of Kentucky, 7-6 (5), 6-2, at No. 1.
CRIMSON TIDE NOTABLES
Daniell continues to dominate the field, as she leads Alabama with a 10-3 mark in dual play at No. 1, while sophomore Alba Cortina-Pou has turned in an 8-1 record this spring. In doubles, senior Smith Hinton and sophomore Jacqueline Pelletier have led the way with a 7-2 record.
IN THE RANKINGS
Alabama women's tennis was featured on the Oracle/ITA Division I Women's Team Rankings for the third consecutive week of the season on Tuesday. The Crimson Tide landed at No. 49 with a 14.00 average. Last week, the Crimson Tide came in at No. 37 with a 17.75 average, and ranked as high as No. 31 with a 20.41 average in the first computerized rankings.
In singles, Daniell ranked at No. 124 with a 5.07 average on Tuesday. In the first computerized rankings back on Feb. 20, Daniell 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.
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.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – OLE MISS
Thursday's match will mark the 49th meeting between the two conference squads and the Rebels lead the series, 31-17. In the last meeting, 17th-ranked Ole Miss edged the Crimson Tide, 4-3, March 3, 2017.
Ole Miss enters Thursday's contest as the 12th-ranked team in the country and sports a 9-3 record. The Rebels are coming off a two-match skid, falling to No. 22 Florida, 4-3, and No. 11 South Carolina, 4-0.
Three Rebels were featured on the latest Oracle/ITA Singles Rankings as Arianne Hartono ranked at No. 13 (8-1), Tea Jandric came in at No. 69 (7-1), while Sabina Machalova landed at No. 106 (5-4). In the doubles rankings, the pairing of Hartono and Alexa Bortles sit at No. 11, while the team of Machalova and Natalie Suk rank at No. 45.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – MISSISSIPPI STATE
Saturday's match will mark the 49th meeting between the bordering squads, with Alabama leading the series, 34-14. In the last meeting, the Crimson Tide fell to the 33rd-ranked Bulldogs, 4-3, on March 5, 2017.
MSU enters the weekend with a 9-4 record and a 0-2 mark in conference play. In the last match, the Bulldogs shut out Alcorn State, 4-0, in Starkville, Miss.
In singles play, the Bulldogs are led by Magda Adaloglou and Madison Harrison, who both own a 7-3 mark. In doubles play, two pairings have totaled eight wins apiece.
ABOUT THE OPPONENT – UT MARTIN
Saturday's match will mark the second meeting between UT Martin and Alabama. In the first ever meeting in 1982, the Crimson Tide shut out the Skyhawks, 9-0, on March 19. The Seahawks enter Saturday's contest with an 0-6 record.
COMING UP
Alabama will hit the road again when it faces in-state rival, No. 18 Auburn, March 16 at 2 p.m. CT. In the first meeting of the season, the Tigers defeated the Crimson Tide 4-0 in the third round of the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic on Feb. 24.
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
