Feb. 3, 2005

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The University of Memphis women's tennis team (0-1) will venture eastward for its first three-game road swing of the season, beginning at UT-Chattanooga, Friday. The Mocs are 0-2 heading into Friday's match-up and after graduating five seniors last year, have a young roster awaiting the Lady Tigers with one senior, one sophomore and five freshmen.

Freshman Lindsey Ballard will tangle at No. 1 singles, bringing a 1-1 mark to the match with her one loss being a three-set loss to Toledo's Myriam Cueva. Sophomore Kristie Wilson has played both previous matches in the No. 2 slot and is 0-2 so far this year. Senior Bethany Everett has been playing either No. 3 or 4 singles, splitting the playing time with freshman Emily Harpe at either of the two spots. Likewise, freshman Christie Fazio and Bonnie Adams are splitting duties at No. 5 and 6 singles just two matches into the season as head coach Thomas Lowry tries to figure out his singles line-up.

In doubles, UTC has played Ballard teamed with either Everett or Adams at No. 1 doubles, while Wilson has teamed with either Adams or Harpe at No. 2 doubles. Two different duos have played matches at No. 3 doubles as Fazio and Francesca Guerrieri or Everett and Guerrieri have played a match at the third spot.

The UTC match will be played indoors at the Hixson Indoor Tennis Courts and will begin at 11:30 a.m.

Following the UTC match, the Lady Tigers will remain in Chattanooga and will square off with Georgia State, Saturday morning. A more seasoned roster than the Mocs, the Panthers of Georgia State feature a pair of seniors, a pair of juniors and three freshmen. Despite a 1-1 record, the Panthers already have plenty of match experience under their belts this spring as they competed in a tournament format with Georgia Tech, Georgia and North Carolina State over three days in January.

Senior Annamaria Forgacs has played all but one match at the No. 1 singles slot and lost to the No. 10 ranked singles player at the Georgia tournament when she fell 6-4, 6-4 to Georgia's Shadisha Robinson. Junior Anne Breiholtz has played all but one match at the No. 2 slot and has won two singles matches on the year, beating N.C. State's Elin Stahl Johansson in straight sets, and downing Wofford's Sarah Shelley 6-2, 6-1.

Junior Birte Koewing has played No. 2, 3, and 4 singles so far this season, facing Georgia's Natalie Frazier, the No. 39 ranked player in the country, and falling 6-0, 6-1, and most recently playing at No. 4, where she downed Delanie Hare of Wofford, 6-1, 6-3.

The five and six slots have been handled by a trio of players for Georgia State, as senior Simona Foltyn, freshman Kiera Strickland and freshman Diana Camila Cardenas have all pooled play among the bottom two rungs of the singles line-up.

In doubles, the Panthers have not played a doubles match in dual play since before the Georgia tournament. At that tournament Breiholtz and Forgacs went 0-3 at the No. 1 spot, while Koewing and Mateja Podgorsek were 0-2 and Koewing and Kowing and Foltyn were 0-1 at No. 2.

The Lady Tigers will wrap the three-match weekend at Tennessee Tech's indoor facility. It will be the season-opener for TTU, which has just six players on its 2004-05 roster. The Lady Tigers and the Golden Eagles are highly-familiar with one another, as TTU participates annually in the Lady Tigers' fall classic, then the two teams typically face one another once during the dual season.

Seniors Maja Russinova and Melisa Cansado lead a very experienced Golden Eagles roster, while TTU has just one freshman, Kay Ngiam from Malaysia.

The Lady Tigers will finish the week with a mid-week match at Murray State, Wednesday.