Alabama Women’s Tennis Opens 2018 SEC Tournament Against No. 35 Tennessee

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 13 seed Alabama women's tennis team is set to take on No. 12 seed Tennessee in the first round of the 2018 Southeastern Conference Women's Tennis Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee at 1 p.m. CT.

Last Time on the Court

The Crimson Tide split the weekend, dropping a hard-fought, close battle to No. 39 LSU, 4-3, and upsetting No. 32 Texas A&M, 4-3, to close out the regular season.

After dropping the doubles point to the Aggies, the Crimson Tide used a strong singles performance to knot the contest at three apiece. In the deciding match, sophomore Alba Cortina-Pou recovered from a 1-6 first-set deficit and captured the final two sets to clinch the match and give the Tide its second conference win of the season. In addition, the Crimson Tide picked up its first victory over a ranked opponent since April 7, 2017, and defeated the Aggies for the fifth time in program history.

Junior Andie Daniell and freshman Kylie Moulin also highlighted the weekend posting a perfect 2-0 record. Daniell defeated her third ranked opponent of the spring season by topping No. 85 Ryann Foster of LSU, 6-2, 6-3, while handling TAMU's Domenica Gonzalez, 7-6(2), 6-1. Moulin picked up her first SEC singles win of her career, sweeping LSU's Ashton Rabalais, 6-0, 6-0, and turned around and topped A&M's Dorthea Faa-Hviding, 6-3, 6-3.

Crimson Tide Notables

Daniell continues to dominate the field, as she leads the team with a 17-7 mark in dual play at No. 1, while Cortina-Pou ranks second on the squad with 14 singles victories. In doubles play, senior Smith Hinton and sophomore Jacqueline Pelletier have led the charge with a 9-4 record, including an 8-4 mark at No. 3.

Daniell has defeated three ranked opponent in dual play including, No. 117 Justina Mikulskyte of Kentucky (7-6(3), 6-2), No. 52 Ingrid Martins of South Carolina (6-2, 6-3) and No. 85 Ryann Foster of LSU (6-2, 6-3).

Alabama started the season with a nine-match winning streak, which was the best start in program history since 2009.

The Crimson Tide ended the regular season with a 15-14 overall record, and a 2-11 mark in conference play.

In the Rankings

Daniell reached her highest rank of the spring season on Tuesday, coming in at No. 86 on the Oracle/ITA Division I Women's Singles Rankings with a 6.30 average. The Douglasville, Ga., native first appeared on the computerized rankings on Feb. 20 at No. 118 with a 4.93 average, and later slipped to No. 124 with a 5.07 average on March 6. She then surged back onto the national list on April 3, landing at No. 91 with a 5.97 average and last week ranked at No. 104 with a 5.38 average (April 10). Before the computerized rankings, Daniell ranked as high as No. 89 (Feb. 7).

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 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 - Tennessee

Wednesday's match will mark the 50th meeting between Alabama and Tennessee, with the Volunteers leading the series, 30-19. The contest also marks the second year in a row that the Tide will face the Volunteers in the first round of the SEC Tournament. In the last meeting, the 38^th-ranked Vols topped the Crimson Tide, 4-2. After dropping the doubles point, the Crimson Tide took the 2-1 lead, but the Volunteers rallied back on courts three, four and six in singles to clinch the match.

Tennessee enters Wednesday's contest as the 35th-ranked team in the nation with a 17-10 overall record, and a 3-10 mark in conference play.

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.

Coming Up

The winner of the Alabama-Tennessee matchup will face No. 5 seed Ole Miss at 5 p.m. CT on April 19.

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.