Conference play begins for women?s tennis

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Coming off a final non-conference sweep a week ago, the 16th-ranked Razorback women’s tennis team will embark on their SEC conference schedule this weekend when it welcomes the No. 27 South Carolina Gamecocks and the top-ranked Florida Gators to the Billingsley Tennis Center in Fayetteville on Friday and Sunday.

“We’re very motivated to translate our strong non-conference play into a great SEC start,” said Arkansas head coach Michael Hegarty. “We’re excited to face another No. 1 ranked opponent in Florida after facing top-ranked Stanford just two weeks ago.”

Arkansas (10-3) had a weekend against Colorado and Rice that was not only successful, but near perfect, especially against the Buffaloes. In that match with Colorado, the Hogs won in shutout style by not giving up a single set for the 7-0 victory. Even with the 5-2 win two days later against Rice, the Razorbacks did not move in the ITA rankings and remained the 16th-ranked team in the nation.

Friday’s match will come against the 27th-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks and is set to begin at noon. South Carolina is coming off a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to instate rival, Clemson after failing to capture the doubles point after losing two of three matches. They then split the remaining six singles matches for their second loss of the season. The Gamecocks are led individually by Anya Morgina, who is ranked No. 65 in the nation in singles with a 3-5 record and Dijana Stojic, who has compiled a 5-3 mark.

On Sunday, the No. 1 Florida Gators will come to town to face the Razorbacks and finish the opening conference weekend. The Gators only have one loss on the year out of 12 matches and that was to the hands of Stanford at the ITA National Team Indoors Final in Charlottesville, Va. Even with the loss, the Gators were still able to capture the top spot in the rankings after also getting wins against No. 12 Clemson, No. 9 Miami, and No. 6 Duke twice.

For the Razorbacks, freshman Jade Frampton is fresh off her second SEC Freshman of the Week award as she has compiled a perfect 7-0 record in dual play at the five and six positions. Of course, the Hogs still have the talents of 23rd-ranked senior Anouk Tigu as she is also coming off a strong weekend, gaining two singles wins. Overall on the year, Tigu has a 18-5 record and is 7-2 in dual match play.

Both matches this weekend will be played at the Billingsley Tennis Center and will begin promptly at noon. The Hogs will face South Carolina on Friday and then Florida on Sunday. Live stats and the live blog will be available for both matches. For complete coverage of the women’s tennis team, log on to ArkansasRazorbacks.com.