Sept. 27, 2010

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Fresh off capturing the flight one doubles title at the 2010 Furman Fall Classic, Lady Vol tennis players Rosalía Alda and Millie Nichols earned Lady Vol Athlete of the Week honors on Monday afternoon.

Playing against a solid field, Alda and Nichols opened things on Friday by topping the South Carolina tandem of Anya Morgina and Miljana Jocic, 8-5.

Later that afternoon, Alda and Nichols knocked off the nation's No. 44-ranked pair, Shinann Featherston and Lauren McHale of North Carolina, 8-6.

In Sunday's finals, the Lady Vol duo outlasted Alex Leatu and Rachael Dillon of Vanderbilt, 9-7 to bring home the title. Leatu and Dillon reached the finals by topping the fifth-ranked doubles pair in the nation, Josipa Bek and Keri Wong of Clemson. This marks the second consecutive year that a Lady Vol doubles team has captured the doubles title in the Furman Fall Classic's top flight. Last year, Natalie Pluskota and Caitlin Whoriskey did the honors.

A senior from Round Rock, Texas, Alda currently ranks 11th in school history with 84 doubles victories and was an All-SEC second team selection last fall.

Nichols, who also hails from the Lone Star state, has been impressive so far in her freshman campaign, posting a 4-0 record in doubles competition to go along with a 3-3 singles mark.

Alda and Nichols earned the Lady Vol Athlete of the Week award over Chelsea Hatcher of the Lady Vol soccer team and Nikki Fowler of volleyball. Hatcher helped lead Tennessee to an unbeaten weekend in SEC play, scoring the game-winning goal with less than three minutes to play against Arkansas on Friday. For her efforts, she was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week. Fowler averaged 4.22 kills per set and hit at a spectacular .403 clip with a squad-best 38 kills as Tennessee split a pair of conference road matches with a five-set loss to Georgia on Friday and a four-set victory over Auburn on Sunday. She became Tennessee's all-time attacks leader against the Tigers with 3,887.

The Lady Vol tennis team is off this week. Alda will return to action in the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif. on Oct. 7, where she will compete in the main singles draw. The next full team competition is the ITA Ohio Valley Regional, which will be held at the Knoxville Racquet Club from Oct. 14-18.

Fans are reminded to follow the Lady Vols on Twitter at www.twitter.com/UTLadyVols.