Feb. 12, 2004

The University of Memphis women's tennis team will hope for nice weather so they can open be outside on campus when Tennessee Tech rolls into town, Saturday. If the weather is nice, the Lady Tigers and the Golden Eaglettes will square off at 11 a.m. on the HPER Courts at the U of M, if the weather does not allow the teams to be outside, the match will probably be played at 6 p.m. at Club Six-50 on Sycamore View.

It will be a battle of two young teams whenever the match does square off, with Tennessee Tech bringing a roster that consists of four sophomores and two freshmen to town. The Lady Tigers counter with a roster that does consist of two seniors, each of whom is in just her second season in collegiate tennis.

Senior Marlene Dirnstorfer is off to a solid start, with a 3-0 mark at both No. 1 singles and doubles. Dirnstorfer will probably face off against sophomore Marina Tasheva, who has an 0-2 mark at No. 1 singles so far this season. Tennessee Tech will have one more match under their belt before coming to Memphis, as the Golden Eaglettes play at Arkansas State, Friday.

Fellow senior Viktoria Gruber may see sophomore Alet Boonzaaier at No. 2 singles, while Margot Carter and her 1-1 singles mark are a possibility at No. 3. Another freshman, Melisa Cansado, has some match experience at No. 4 for Tennessee Tech, while sophomore Alicja Kutyla and Maja Russinova have rounded out the No. 5 and 6 spots in the line-up. Russinova has already faced one Lady Tiger this season, downing Kristin Noble, 7-6 (7), 6-0 in the U of M's fall tournament, while Kutyla lost to Memphis freshman Alex Tjioe, 6-2, 6-1, at the same tournament. Despite playing in two of the same fall tournaments, those were the only two times the two teams had players meet in the singles draws.

Sophomores Andrea Feichtinger and Kristin Noble each sport a 2-1 singles mark early in the season, while freshman Christina Wieser is 1-1 at No. 6 singles. Newcomer Yesica Ares stepped into the Lady Tigers' singles line-up for the first time against Saint Louis, winning her No. 5 singles match. Ares has also teamed with Kristin Noble for a 1-0 mark at No. 3 doubles and a 1-0 mark at No. 3 with Wieser.