Alabama
The Alabama women’s tennis team (1-1) is in the midst of a three-week break from competition. The Crimson Tide will next face Rice on February 18, at 1 p.m. CT at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. This will also be Alabama’s home opener for the 2012 season.
Arkansas
The Razorbacks had its toughest test to date over the weekend as they faced highly ranked opponents, No. 31 Oklahoma and No. 25 Yale. In its first match against Oklahoma, Arkansas claimed its fifth straight victory, defeating the Sooners, 5-2. The Hogs won the doubles point after the team of sophomore Laurie Gingras and junior Claudine Paulson beat the 22nd-ranked doubles team of Marie-Pier Huet and Whitney Ritchie, 8-6. The team took that momentum into singles to win four more matches and win the overall match. Against Yale on Sunday, Arkansas had a tough climb after being swept in the doubles matches, but seemed to be pulling it together in singles, winning first sets in four of the six matches. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs made all the right moves in the later sets and claimed four more singles wins. The highlight of the day came from Paulson at court three after she defeated Hanna Yu, 6-0, 6-0, for her 12th win of the year. The Razorbacks get a week off before traveling to Tulsa for its next match on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 3 p.m.
Auburn
Auburn lost to FSU on Sunday. They play at Louisiana-Layfayette on Saturday and Louisiana-Monroe on Sunday.
Florida
The Gators take a two-week break from competition before playing host to North Carolina on Sun., Feb. 26 at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex, where first serve is scheduled for 1 p.m. Florida enters that match sporting a program-record 98-match home winning streak. Florida won two matches and lost one last week, when the team played perhaps the most anticipated regular-season matches in recent years. Stanford and Florida met during a planned regular-season outing for the first time in 19 years and the Cardinal took the 5-2 outcome on their home court, site of last year's NCAA Team Championship final which the Gators took, 4-3. Florida's loss to Stanford snapped the Gator's 26-match winning streak that dated back to Feb. 21, 2011, when Stanford defeated Florida, 4-2, in the ITA National Team Indoor Final. That was also the last time the Gators (5-1) had lost the doubles point prior to losing it on Sunday. Junior Allie Will, ranked No. 3 nationally in singles, extended her season-opening win streak to 11, while improving her career singles record to 94-10 overall and 56-3 in dual match action.
Georgia
The No. 6 Georgia women’s tennis team, now 8-1 on the season, notched two wins over ranked opponents at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The team suffered their first loss of the season to No. 7 California on the second day of the tournament. Freshman Lauren Herring has marked 20 of 25 in her first season with the Bulldogs while the pair of Herring and sophomore Kate Fuller are now 20-8 overall this season. The Bulldogs are back in action at home for their next four slated matches beginning on Friday, February 24 against Memphis.
Kentucky
The University of Kentucky women’s tennis team hosted another doubleheader as a part of their nine-game homestretch. The Cats first faced Winthrop for a short and sweet match with a final score, 4-0. Later that evening, the team took on Cincinnati. The Wildcats grabbed every point, only losing one doubles match, to defeat the Bearcats, 7-0. Sophomore Misha Testerman posted her best singles score yet, defeating Cincinnati’s Carly Wilson in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0. Strong performances, like so, have lifted the Cats to 6-1 on the season.
LSU
LSU split a pair of matches, each by a 5-2 score line in a doubleheader against Rice and Southern last Tuesday. Kaitlin Burns' play highlighted the day as she won all four of the matches she played in both singles and doubles. The Wilmington, N.C., native has won six of her last 10 singles matches. Sophomore Yvette Vlaar has also won six of her last 10 singles matches. Seniors Whitney Wolf and Olivia Howlett have continued to lead the Lady Tigers into the dual match season as they are each 7-3 in their last 10 matches.
Ole Miss
Ole Miss participated in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships for the first time since 2000. After losing a hard-fought 4-3 match to No. 3 Duke, the Rebels lost back-to-back matches to No. 15 Clemson and No. 11 Miami. The Rebels return home for the first of three straight home matches beginning this Saturday against SMU. Saturday’s match will mark the home opener for the Rebels, who have been to Hawaii, Tallahassee, Fla., Lubbock, Texas and Charlottesville, Va., to start the season. Sophomore Caroline Rohde-Moe leads the team with a 16-4 overall record, 6-1 at No. 2 singles. In doubles, the No. 4 ranked duo of Kristi Boxx and Abby Guthrie are 15-5 overall and 6-1 at No. 1.
Mississippi State
The Lady Bulldogs of Mississippi State cruised past Southern University 6-1 in Starkville this Saturday, bringing their spring record to 2-1. Due to extreme cold temperatures and gusty winds the matches were moved indoors, however, the Lady Bulldogs got off to a hot start by quickly winning the doubles point. The Mississippi State duo of Khrystyna Pavlyuk and Alexandra Perper remained undefeated (3-0) in doubles play with a 8-4 win on court one. Junior transfer Ekaterina Iakovleva’s smooth and precise play has allowed her to dominate yet another opponent 6-0, 6-0. Mississippi State women’s tennis action will resume at home at 3 p.m. this Thursday with matches against Louisiana Monroe. They will finish the week’s play with Sunday matches posted against Stephen F. Austin.
South Carolina
The No. 26 South Carolina women's tennis team is off to a 2-1 start for the 2012 season following wins against Furman and William & Mary and a loss to Georgia Tech. The Gamecocks opened the season at home versus Furman in the first match ever played at the school's new outdoor courts, Carolina Tennis Center. South Carolina posted a 7-0 win against the Paladins. After a nearly five-hour match with William & Mary that end with a 4-1 Carolina win the first round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Atlanta, South Carolina was unable to get past the host Yellow Jackets in the following round, losing 4-0. The Gamecocks have three ranked singles players this spring with Anya Morgina (20), Jaklin Alawi (33) and Dijana Stojic (80). South Carolina will head to San Diego for its next set of matches, first taking on San Diego on Feb. 17 and then Loyola Marymount on Feb. 18.
Tennessee
The Lady Vol tennis team improved its record to 6-3 after a pair of wins at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. With wins over the weekend against No. 5 Baylor and No. 12 Northwestern, Tennessee has now defeated three teams in the Top 12, five in the Top 25, and has won six of its last seven contests overall. UT locked up the doubles point three more times, setting a program record by opening the season with nine opening points. Additionally, UT became the first team to shutout Baylor since Feb. 16, 2007.
Vanderbilt
The Vanderbilt Commodores dropped home matches against No. 10 Michigan and No. 24 Notre Dame over the weekend in two hard-fought battles. The women split six of their singles matches on Sunday against the Irish, losing four of them in 6-4 or 7-5 finishes. Junior Nelly Radeva went 2-0 over the weekend, while Jackie Wu defeated Notre Dame’s No. 1 player, Shannon Mathews, on Sunday. Vanderbilt falls to 6-3 and will look to stop their skid next week when they return from a schedule break.