The Tennessee women’s tennis team will be back in action at the Goodfriend Tennis Center this weekend as they get ready for a four game home-stand.
Tennessee will square off against Western Kentucky and Murray State on Saturday, while Sunday will feature matches with MTSU and Mercer.
The team hopes to keep its momentum going after a strong weekend performance in Las Vegas at the UNLV Tournament. Doubles partners and seniors Caitlyn Williams and Joanna Henderson made it to the doubles semifinals before falling to Stanford. In the singles consolation finals, Henderson defeated Eva Paalma of Texas A&M.
Other Tennessee doubles action during the weekend included doubles partners and sophomores Eve Repic and Laurence Guevremont defeating Anett Ferenczi-Bako and her partner Bojana Petrovic from UNLV. Repic and Guevremont also knocked off the tandem of Marika Akkerman and Cassandra Vazquez from North Carolina.
“The four girls who got the chance to go to Vegas all got some real valuable experience,” co-head coach Mike Patrick said. “We had four girls back here at home that didn’t get to compete, though. This will be the first competition for them for the spring which is always good, kind of getting the rust knocked off. We are playing a lot of matches in a short period of time and hopefully we’ll get our competitive juices flowing.”
With doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday, staying fresh will be key. Coach Patrick stated staying efficient and focused and taking care of business will be important. He also opined that eating, staying hydrated and resting will be vital.
“It’s a long weekend, but it’s early in the season; we played that many matches last weekend in Las Vegas so we can handle it,” said coach Patrick. “It’s just a matter of taking care of yourself every day and after each match.”
Western Kentucky and Murray State are opening spring play Saturday in Knoxville. MTSU and Mercer have already begun spring play, however. Mercer is 0-2 early in the season with both loses coming against Arkansas, while MTSU is 1-1 so far with a win against Alabama A&M and a loss to Auburn.
Even though Tennessee played against Murray State in the fall, they are still preparing to meet a good, strong Murray State team.
“Obviously Murray State has some good players,” said Williams, “so being prepared is the best way to counteract that.”
Saturday’s match against Western Kentucky is at 10 a.m., while the Murray State match starts at 3 p.m. The matches on Sunday start at 10 a.m. against MTSU and 3p.m. against Mercer.
