MSU Women's Tennis Set For 2010 SEC Tournament
- 2010 SEC Women's Tennis Championship Central
ATHENS, Ga. - Eleventh-seeded Mississippi State (9-12, 1-10 SEC) faces off with sixth-seeded Vanderbilt (12-8, 7-4 SEC) Thursday afternoon in first round action of the 2010 SEC Women's Tennis Tournament. Match time between the Lady Bulldogs and VU is slated for 1 p.m. CT at Georgia's Henry Feild Courts.
Mississippi State enters Thursday's contest looking to rebound from late season losses in the SEC, while Vanderbilt rides a three-match win streak into Thursday's affair. The 29th-ranked Commodores closed out their season last week with a 6-1 win over Kentucky.
The two teams have met once this season; with Vandy taking a 7-0 triumph over MSU at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre. Meanwhile, the squads also clashed in the first round of last year's tournament, where Vanderbilt took a 4-0 win over the Lady Bulldogs. The Commodores then went on to lose to Florida in the second round.
It has been an up-and-down season for MSU. First year head coach Daryl Greenan led the team to an 8-1 record to begin the year, with wins over 57th-ranked Georgia State and 72nd-ranked College of Charleston. That 8-1 start was the best start in school history by a first year coach, while the team's 5-2 win over Kentucky marked the first time in school history that a coach has won his or her first SEC affair. The Lady Bulldogs then finished the season in the rigorous SEC, where they lost eight-straight to end the year.
Vanderbilt returned a strong team for the 2010 season and brings a talented squad into Thursday's match. The Commodores have three players ranked in singles in No. 28 Catherine Newman, No. 30 Jackie Wu, and 88th-ranked Chelsea Preeg.
The winner of Thursday's contest takes on third-seeded Tennessee in the second round.