March 22, 2011

Match Notes

By Donnie Conley, Media Relations Student Assistant

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The No. 21-ranked University of Tennessee Lady Vol tennis team returns to Knoxville for a midweek showdown against No. 71 Ohio State at Barksdale Stadium at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

This is Tennessee's last scheduled non-conference match. These two teams faced off on Jan. 30 as part of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. In that contest, the Lady Vols took home a 6-1 decision in their home opener.

UT (10-4, 3-0) split a pair of matches in Tampa, Fla., last week. The Big Orange took down No. 64 South Florida, 5-2, on the Bulls' home court Wednesday before falling to No. 17 Notre Dame, 5-2, on Saturday.

The No. 3 doubles duo of Jennifer Meredith and Kata Szekely has won 12 straight matches, the longest active streak in the Southeastern Conference.

Senior Rosalía Alda is aiming for her 20th singles victory. The Round Rock, Texas native currently sits at 19-14 on the season. She would be the third Lady Vol to hit that milestone this season, joining freshmen Brynn Boren (21 wins) and Millie Nichols (20 wins).

Nichols, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, also has a team-high 21 doubles wins this season. She and junior Natalie Pluskota are the nation's No. 59-rated duo. Boren and Pluskota are the only Lady Vols ranked in singles, coming in at No. 36 and 42, respectively.

OSU enters Wednesday's contest with a record of 8-6. The Buckeyes defeated Eastern Michigan, 6-1, on Sunday in their last contest.

After recording a 5-2 victory over No. 44 Indiana on Feb. 12, UT increased its record against Big Ten squads over the last 12 seasons to 54-7 (.885). During UT Co-head coach Mike Patrick's tenure at Rocky Top, the Lady Vols have put together an astonishing 76-14 (.844) mark against Big Ten teams, after going 8-9 in the years prior to his arrival.

Live scoring for the match will be available at www.UTLadyVols.com

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