Feb. 5, 2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - - The University of Memphis women's tennis team (1-1) will host a trio of non-conference matches over three days, beginning with a Friday contest against Southern Illinois (2-0) at 2 p.m. at WellWorx.

Memphis is looking to bounce back from a 5-2 loss at UALR, a match that went an astounding five hours.

"We battled and if we continue to play like that, we're going to win some matches this spring," Head Coach Lee Taylor Walker said.

Southern Illinois is coming in to the match following a pair of wins to open their spring. The Salukis defeated Dayton in the season-opener, 5-2, then upended Wright State by a similar 5-2 score.

Senior Sabine Tsala Mvilongo is 2-0 at No. 1 singles, and won the Lady Tiger Invitational consolation title in Memphis' fall tournament in October. Against Wright State, Mvilongo came back from a 6-4 first set loss to win the match 10-8 in a super tiebreak.

Memphis newcomer Ashley Murdock is the lone Lady Tiger carrying a winning streak in to Friday singles matches, with her perfect 2-0 mark at No. 4 singles leading the team.

In doubles, two Lady Tiger tandems are on winning streaks heading in to the Friday match. The team of Murdock and sophomore Marjorie Ondeck are 2-0 at No. 2 doubles, while the team of Amanda Brown and Ekin Zafir bounced back from a loss to open the season at No. 1 doubles to win the top doubles match at UALR, 8-6.

Memphis will close out the weekend with two other non-conference matches. The Lady Tigers will face Samford (2-0), at 3 p.m., Saturday, and Rhodes College at about 4:30 p.m. on Sunday (the women's match will begin following the completion of the men's match against Rhodes which begins at 1 p.m.). Samford will face Southern Illinois, Saturday, at 9 a.m.

Admission for all the matches is free of charge. A viewing area for fans at WellWorx is located up the stairs to the right once through the main entrance of the facility.