The University of Mississippi Athletics
Women's Tennis To Host Top 20 Opponents
4/1/2010 | Women's Tennis
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss women's tennis team looks to maintain its lead in the SEC West as they host top 20 teams Tennessee and Georgia this weekend in SEC action at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center.
The Rebels kick off the weekend on Friday at 3 p.m. against the No. 14 Lady Volunteers (11-5, 5-1 SEC). Friday is Kids Day at the tennis center. All fans will enjoy free pizza before the match, and players will be autographing posters after the match.
The Lady Vols come into the match with the No. 1 ranked doubles team in Caitlin Whoriskey and Natalie Pluskota and are coming off big wins against LSU and No. 22 ranked Arkansas.
The second match of the weekend will be held at 1 p.m. on Sunday against the Georgia Bulldogs (10-4, 6-0 SEC), who are ranked one spot ahead of Tennessee at No. 13. Sunday will be Senior Day, as the Rebels honor lone senior Soledad Podlipnik prior to the start of the match.
"We knew looking at the schedule, that these two weekends, South Carolina/Florida and Tennessee/Georgia would be a tough stretch," head coach Mark Beyers said.
"We would love to have gotten one of those matches last week, but we didn't. So we have to move on. That's the nature of the SEC. People look at it and say wow you play four top 20 teams, but that happens every year. We just happen to get them back-to-back. The girls understand that these are two more opportunities to move up in the rankings."
The South Carolina loss marked just the third home loss in two years for the Rebels, who hope the home court advantage helps them this weekend.
"They are excited about the opportunity. The fact that we play at home is big. That almost got us the win against South Carolina, we almost made a comeback. I am hoping that will help this weekend, and we can win one or both those matches," Beyers said.
Admission to both matches is free.
