University of Memphis Athletics
Women's Tennis Hosting Pair of Conference Foes This Weekend
Apr 02, 2015 | Women's Tennis
MEMPHIS - -
The University of Memphis women's tennis team (7-12, 2-2 American) will close out its 2015 home slate with a pair of conference matches this weekend, beginning with a Friday morning contest against No. 61 SMU (14-4, 3-1 American), at 9 a.m. The Lady Tigers will close out the schedule with a Saturday morning match up with USF (4-13, 1-3 American) at 11 a.m.
The weekend will be the final home matches for a pair of Memphis seniors. Alyssa Hibberd and Liza Tymchenko will be suiting up for their final home competitions. Tymchenko is coming off a win at No. 2 singles on the road at Tulsa and is looking to improve to 4-1 in conference play. The senior is already 3-1 against American Athletic Conference foes, including last week's 7-5, 6-3 win at No. 2 singles. Tymchenko also took No. 103 ranked Elena Kordolaimi of Houston to three sets and owns a three-set win over UCF's Courtney Cesarini and a straight set win over Cincinnati's Katya Bure.
Hibberd comes in to the weekend looking to solidify her spot in Memphis history. She currently ranks fifth in school history in career doubles wins with 85 and her 77 career singles wins ranks eighth all-time.
Sophomore Anki Wind comes in to the weekend among the nation's best in singles play. Wind is ranked No. 123 in the latest ITA Tennis polls and is still ranked in doubles with Hibberd, and is tied with fellow sophomore Marta Morga for the team lead in singles wins with 16. Wind picked up her 10th win of the season at No. 1 singles in the Lady Tigers' last outing at Tulsa, coming back from a 6-3 first set loss to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. She has now won three of her last four matches at No. 1, with the lone loss coming to No. 23 ranked Natalie Beazant of Rice University (6-4, 6-4).
Morga is 16-10 on the season and sports a 10-5 mark at No. 3. The sophomore is 5-4 in her last nine matches and is looking to get to the double digit mark in doubles wins this season, coming in with eight doubles wins so far this season.
Junior Kathryn Hughes is fourth on the squad in her first year in the blue and gray with 11 singles victories. Hughes is 11-8 on the year and 9-7 in dual season play. She has gone 6-6 at No. 4 singles and is 3-1 at No. 5. Hughes has gone 2-1 in her last three completed matches, but has posted back-to-back unfinished matches after winning 6-3, 6-2 at No. 34 Houston back in mid-March.
SMU comes in to Friday morning's match with a three-match winning streak, including a 4-2 win over UT Arlington in their last outing. Like Memphis, SMU has faced UCF and UAB. Memphis defeated both UCF and UAB, 5-2, and SMU downed UCF, 4-3, and UAB, 6-1. This will be just the fourth true road match of the season for the Mustangs, who have played 14 of their 18 matches on their home courts in Dallas.
This is just the fourth matchup between SMU and Memphis. The Mustangs are looking to return the favor on the Lady Tigers, who won in Dallas last year, 5-2, for their first-ever win against the Mustangs.
Admission for both Friday and Saturday's matches is free. Matches will be played at The Racquet Club of Memphis.
Players Mentioned
