Jan. 21, 2009

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis women's tennis team will begin the 2009 spring dual season on the road against No. 6 Georgia at 5.p.m., at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens. The match will be the first of the season for both programs.

The Bulldogs of Georgia are coming off a 2007-08 season in which they advanced to the third round of the NCAA Championships. Head Coach Jeff Wallace has led Georgia to two national championships (1994, 2000), five SEC tournament titles (1989, 1994, 2001, 2007, 2008) and 22-straight NCAA appearances.

Memphis enters the season returning all but one member of their 2007-08 squad. The Lady Tigers are led by Ashley Murdock, the program's first All-C-USA honoree in four years. The U of M also looks to ride the strength of a No. 1 doubles team that advanced to the semi-finals of the ITA Southeast Regional in Winston-Salem, N.C., this fall. Murdock along with Marjorie Ondeck, defeated opponents from No. 12 Clemson, No. 17 North Carolina and No. 25 Tennessee.

This season will mark the second season at the helm for Lee Taylor Walker. In his first season, Walker guided the Lady Tigers to their best record in four seasons (9-13). The Memphis squad for 2008-09 is composed of one senior (Kristin Chamberlain), four juniors (Murdock, Ondeck, Amanda Brown and Dara Toulch), one sophomore (Lindsey Wiseman) and two freshman (Sarah Irvin and Robyn Jones).

Georgia's line-up is composed of several ranked players, led by Chelsey Gullickson who is currently the No. 7 singles player in the nation according to ITA Tennis. A freshman, Gullickson defeated seven ranked opponents during her first fall with the Bulldogs including two players who were ranked among the top ten singles competitors. Nadja Gilchrist (No. 44), Yvette Hyndman (No. 100), Monika Dancevic (No. 101) and Naoko Ueshima (No. 123) are among the other players ranked.

Georgia also boasts the 10th (Gullickson and Hyndman) and 34th (Dancevic and Gilchrist) ranked doubles tandems in collegiate tennis.

Following the match with the Bulldogs, the Tigers will head toward the Samford Invitational which will pit them against opponents from Samford, Jacksonville State and Georgia State.