University of Tennessee Athletics
NO. 31 LADY VOLS HEAD TO GAINESVILLE FOR SEC TOURNAMENT
April 18, 2006 | Women's Tennis
April 18, 2006
SEC Tournament Notes | 2006 SEC Tournament Bracket in PDF Format
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The fifth-seeded and 31st-ranked University of Tennessee Lady Vol tennis team (10-11, 6-5 Southeastern Conference) is set to travel to Gainesville, Fla., for the SEC Tournament, taking on 12th-seeded Auburn (6-17, 0-11 SEC) at 10 a.m. on Thursday.
Tennessee is 23-6 all-time versus Auburn, following a 5-2 win earlier this season in Knoxville. The last time UT faced the Tigers in the conference tournament was on April 16, 1998, in Lexington, Ky., as the Lady Vols took the win, 6-0.
The winner of the UT-Auburn match will face fourth-seeded and 24th-ranked Georgia at 10 a.m. on Friday in the quarterfinals. The victor of that match will move on to either take on top-seeded and No. 4 Florida, eighth-seeded and 39th-ranked South Carolina or ninth-seeded and No. 50 Ole Miss in the semifinals, which will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The title contest begins at noon on Sunday.
The doubles team of senior Melissa Schaub (Lexington, Ohio) and sophomore Ghizela Schutte (Ninapark, South Africa) entered the national rankings this week, coming in 51st. The duo has a 10-9 dual-match record with their biggest win coming against the 55th-ranked doubles team in Ilona Somers and Virginia Tomatis of Ole Miss, 8-1, on April 7.
The Lady Vols finished 6-5 in SEC dual-match play, dropping its last match versus then-No. 24 Georgia, 6-1. This season marks the seventh straight year the Big Orange has recorded a winning SEC record. Schutte recorded the lone point for the squad with a 3-6, 6-4, (10-2) win over Kelley Hyndman.
The 2006 Lady Vol dual-match schedule is top of the line, as Tennessee has played nine contests versus teams currently ranked in the top-25 nationally. Thirteen of the 21 matches played have come against top-40 squads.
A total of 16 matches on UT's regular season slate of 21 contests are versus teams who played in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Four of the Lady Vols' 11 losses have come against teams ranked in the top 10 currently: No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 4 Florida, No. 7 North Carolina and No. 8 Vanderbilt.
The NCAA Selection Show will air at 4:30 p.m. on May 3 on ESPNews. This year's NCAA Tournament takes place at various campus sites from May 12-14. This year 's NCAA Championships will occur in Stanford, Calif., from May 18-28.
