WTEN CENTRAL: #16 Lady Vols at #7 South Carolina/#34 Florida

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The 16^th-ranked Tennessee women's team hits the road for its first pair of SEC road matches this weekend.

The Lady Vols face off against No. 7 South Carolina on Friday in Columbia, S.C., at 10 a.m. before traveling to Gainesville, Fla., for a 1 p.m. match against the No. 34 Florida Gators. Tennessee's match against the Gamecocks was originally scheduled for 5 p.m., but was moved to earlier in the day due to incoming inclement weather.

Tennessee (12-3, 2-1 SEC) is coming off of a weekend in which it recorded wins over two top 25 teams – No. 21 Texas A&M on Friday and No. 15 LSU on Sunday. The 4-0 win over LSU avenged an early-season loss to the Tigers at the ITA Kick-Off Tallahassee Regional.

Following the pair of wins, the Lady Vols elevated from No. 33 to No. 16 in the ITA team rankings, while also entering the USTA top 25 at No. 25.

Senior Sadie Hammond also received recognition for her individual efforts, as she was named SEC Player of the Week on Wednesday.

South Carolina (9-2, 4-0) has registered an impressive 4-0 start to SEC play with wins over Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Missouri and Arkansas. The Gamecocks competed at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships and left with a 1-1 record, notching a win over a top 10 Oklahoma State team.

Through four matches, Florida (6-5, 3-1) has faced the same SEC opponents as South Carolina, losing to only Mississippi State. The Gators face No. 2 Georgia on Friday before taking on Tennessee on Sunday.

FRESHMAN PHENOMS: Tennessee freshmen Maia Haumuller and Rebeka Mertena have each had stellar freshman seasons since arriving at UT in January.

Both Haumuller and Mertena are amidst seven-match win streaks. Haumuller sports a 10-2 singles dual match record, while Mertena is 11-2. Haumuller was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Week on Feb. 20.

DOUBLES DOMINATION: Tennessee's doubles accomplishments have not been limited to just the success of eighth-ranked duo Sadie Hammond and Kaitlin Staines. As a team, Tennessee has won the doubles point in 13 of its 15 matches this season.

At the Lady Vols' No. 2 doubles spot, Tenika McGiffin and Maia Haumuller are 7-2 in dual matches and clinched the doubles point for Tennessee in the win over No. 15 LSU. Rebeka Mertena and Johanna Silva are 4-1 in dual matches at the Lady Vols' No. 3 doubles spot.

RANKED COMPETITION: This weekend's pair of matches will feature seven ranked singles players and three ranked doubles teams. The ranked singles players and doubles teams are listed below.

Singles
No. 9 Ingrid Gamarra Martins (South Carolina)
No. 12 Ida Jarlskog (Florida)
No. 44 McCartney Kessler (Florida)
No. 49 Paige Cline (South Carolina)
No. 52 Victoria Emma (Florida)
No. 65 Sadie Hammond (Tennessee)
No. 99 Mia Horvit (South Carolina)

Doubles
No. 7 Horvit/Gamarra Martins (South Carolina)
No. 8 Hammond/Staines (Tennessee)
No. 28 Rohrabacher/Davies (South Carolina)

WTEN CENTRAL: #16 Lady Vols at #7 South Carolina/#34 Florida

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Players Mentioned

Sadie Hammond

Maia Haumuller

Tenika McGiffin

Rebeka Mertena

Johanna Silva

Kaitlin Staines

University of Tennessee Athletics