Setting the Scene
The No. 28 Kentucky women?s tennis team (7-5) returns home this weekend for the first time since Jan. 23, to open Southeastern Conference action against Auburn and Alabama. The match against the Tigers is set to begin on Friday at 4 p.m. EST at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center. The Cats will return to the Boone Tennis Center to take on No. 55 Alabama beginning at noon EST on Sunday.
Scouting the Opponents
Auburn enters Friday?s match with a 4-3 record and is unranked. In Auburn?s last match on Feb. 26, DePaul blanked the Tigers 7-0. Auburn currently has one ranked singles player in freshman Whitney Chappell. The 89th-ranked Chappell is 5-2 on the season with one victory over a ranked opponent (Georgia Tech?s 60th-ranked Kelly Anderson).
The Crimson Tide is ranked No. 55 despite having a 2-4 record. Alabama?s four losses have all come against ranked teams. Like the Cats, Bama fell earlier this year to No. 3 Georgia Tech and No. 9 Northwestern. Alabama has the No. 7 singles player in the country, senior Robin Stephenson, who is 14-5 on the season.
Last Time Out
In the Cats? last match, UK squeezed out a 4-3 victory at 47th-ranked South Florida. The hero on the day for the Cats was freshman Carolina Escamilla. The Medellin, Colombia, native fought off two match points and was down 6-5 in the second set before rallying to beat the Bulls? Iciri Rai 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 to clinch the match for Kentucky.
Junior Kim Coventry also continued her strong singles play by defeating the Bulls? No. 53 Neyssa Etienne 6-1, 6-2 to win her fifth match in her last six tries against ranked opponents.
Cats in the Rankings
After going 1-1 last week, the Cats moved up two spots to No. 28 in the ITA rankings. Eleven of the 12 Southeastern Conference teams are now ranked in the top-75.
Coventry is currently the Cats? lone ranked singles player at No. 22. The Melbourne, Australia, native has recorded 20 wins on the year. Coventry also teams with fellow junior Joelle Schwenk to be the 33rd-ranked doubles team.
History
UK enters the contest against Auburn with a 17-6 all-time advantage. Last season at Auburn, the Cats blanked the Tigers 6-0.
Kentucky has been equally as dominant in its history with Alabama. UK holds the 20-7 edge in the match ups between the two schools. Last season, the Cats went down to Tuscaloosa, Ala., and came away with a 5-2 win.
Next on Tap
The Cats will travel to Baton Rouge, La., on Fri., Mar. 10, to take on LSU at 5 p.m. EST. The Cats will continue their road trip on Mar. 12, when they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to tangle with the Razorbacks.
