Feb. 11, 2010

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis women's tennis squad will play host to Samford and Austin Peay on Sat., Feb. 13. The Lady Tigers come into Saturday with a record of 3-6. Memphis is coming off a near upset against No. 44 Yale last Sunday. The Lady Tigers fell to Yale, 4-3, after taking the doubles point and No. 1 and No. 3 singles.

The U of M's match with Samford will commence at 9 a.m. (CST) at Wellworx Sporting Club. The dual wiht Austin Peay is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. (CST) at the University Club in Memphis.

"This past Sunday was the best I have seen our team fight and compete all year," said Memphis head coach Lee Taylor Walker. "We hope to be able to pick up where we left off against two very good opponents in Samford and Austin Peay."

The Lady Tigers' double line-up has been led by the pair of Kelly Gray and Courtney Collins at No. 3 doubles. The pair comes into Saturday's matches with a mark of 5-1 after picking up wins last weekend over duos from Boston College and No. 44 Yale. The pair's only loss came to the No. 3 team from 33rd-ranked Ohio State.

In singles, Memphis has been led by the recent success of Ashley Murdock at the No. 1 position. The senior from Memphis, Tenn., picked up two key singles victories over the weekend defeating 87th-ranked netter Stephanie Kent of Yale and Boston College's Olga Khmylev who defeated Kent earlier this season. Murdock is a back-to-back All-C-USA selection and currently holds a 5-4 record on the 2010 season.

Samford comes into Saturday's match with a 3-0 record after opening the season with wins over Charlotte, Columbus State and Jacksonville State. Coach Walker of Memphis is 1-1 as the coach against Samford teams. The Lady Tigers defeated Samford last season in Birmingham, Ala., 4-2.

In singles, the Bulldogs are led by junior Taylor Morgan at the No. 1 position. The native of Jacksonville, Fla., was an All-SoCon first team selection last season and an All-OVC first team selection as a freshman. She comes into Saturday's dual with a 3-0 mark. In 2009, Morgan compiled an overall singles record of 13-8 and was victorious in seven of her final 10 matches of the season.

In doubles, the No. 2 pair of Rebecca Kirven and Andrie Meiring come into Saturday's match with a 2-1 mark.

Austin Peay comes into Saturday's match with a 2-0 record after picking up wins over Belmont and Evansville to open the season. The Lady Governors, coached by first-year coach Malik Tabet, are led by Vanja Tomic at No. 1 singles and Carolin Weikard at the No. 2 spot. Tomic, a sophomore from Banja Luca, Bosnia, joins APSU from Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky where she helped the Blue Raiders.

In doubles, the pair of Tomic and Mariana Pagan opened the season with a 1-1 mark at No. 1 doubles.