Arkansas & LSU Match Notes

April 5, 2006

AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn women's tennis team hits the road this weekend for two road matches, beginning Friday at No. 50 Arkansas at 2 p.m. Following the Tigers' meeting with Arkansas, they will continue their road trip at No. 61 LSU on Sunday at 1 p.m. The matches for Auburn (5-13, 0-8 Southeastern Conference) will be its final conference road matches of the regular season. The Tigers are coming off a two-match homestand, where they dropped a 6-1 decision to No. 38 South Carolina and a 7-0 decision to No. 3 Florida. Arkansas extended its SEC win streak to three with a 4-3 win at Ole Miss on April 2. LSU won its first SEC match of the year on April 2, with a 5-2 win at Mississippi State.

About Arkansas
Ranked 50th nationally, Arkansas (7-8, 3-5 SEC) has won three straight after being shutout, 7-0, by Florida on March 24. During the win streak, the Tigers have defeated South Carolina, Mississippi State and Ole Miss. Arkansas returns six letterwinners from last year's team that finished 11-11 overall and 1-11 in the SEC. Auburn is 14-11 all-time against Arkansas. Auburn's last victory over Arkansas came in 2004, when the Tigers earned a 4-2 victory. Auburn's win over the Lady Razorbacks in 2004 marked the third victory in a row. Arkansas won 5-2 last season. In singles, Arkansas is led by No. 31 Aurelija Miseviciute and No. 55 Ela Kaluder.

About LSU
LSU is ranked 61st in the nation and is 9-9 overall and 1-7 in the SEC. LSU earned its first conference victory on April 2, with a 5-2 win at Mississippi State. Prior to its win over the Lady Bulldogs, LSU had lost eight of its last nine matches. Auburn is 9-19 all-time against LSU. Auburn has dropped three in a row to LSU, with its last win coming in 2002. LSU returns seven letterwinners from last year's team that finished 12-12 overall and 4-7 in the SEC. LSU does not have any players ranked in singles or doubles.

Last Time Out
Auburn dropped both of its home matches over the weekend, falling 6-1 to No. 34 South Carolina and 7-0 to No. 7 Florida. Auburn has now played six of its last seven matches against ranked opponents. Auburn's losses dropped the Tigers to 5-13 overall and 0-8 in the Southeastern Conference. Alex Haney ran her win streak to five with a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) victory over No. 68 Gira Schofield of South Carolina before losing to Florida's Alexis Gordon on Sunday. In doubles play the Tigers' duo of Irina Pljusznyin and Dzeljan Memisi won the No. 3 doubles match on Friday over South Carolina's team of Grace Blakely and Miranda Gutierrez, 9-8.

Haney Heating Up
Alex Haney had her five-match win streak snapped on April 2, as Florida's Alexis Gordon - ranked 37th at the time - defeated Haney, 6-2, 6-3. On March 31, Haney won her fifth match in a row with 6-4, 7-6, (8-6) win over No. 68 Gira Schofield of South Carolina. Haney is 9-9 in singles play this spring and 18-14 overall. In doubles, Haney is 8-10 this spring, including a 5-6 mark in the No. 1 position. In singles, Haney downed No. 82 Caroline Basu of Georgia, 7-6, 4-6, 1-0, in the No. 3 match on March 24. On March 26, Haney topped Tennessee's Melissa Schaub, 6-3, 6-1, in the No. 2 match. Haney's win streak began with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Louisville's Robyn White in the No. 3 match on March 16. On March 17, Haney downed Georgia State's Martina Nitkova in the No. 3 match, 6-3, 6-2.

Tippins Stepping Up
Prior to her current two-match win streak in singles play, Leigh Tippins had lost four straight matches. Tippins was held out of both matches last week due to a back injury. On March 17, Tippins knocked off Brittany Smith of Georgia State in the No. 5 match, 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6). Against Tennessee on March 26, Tippins defeated Stephanie Harris, 6-1, 6-1, in the No. 6 match. Tippins missed both matches vs. South Carolina and Florida, due to injury.

Under The Lights
Auburn's match with South Carolina on March 31 was its first match under the lights. The match was the first played under the lights this season at the Luther Young Tennis Complex for either the men or women's team. Earlier this season the Tigers finished their match with Louisville under the lights because the start of the match was delayed due to inclement weather.

Dynamic Duo
After posting a 7-6 record during the fall in doubles play, the Tigers' tandem of Alex Haney and Ashley Cowart had their five-match win streak snapped on March 24, when the duo lost to the No. 8 team in the country of Basu and Robinson of Georgia. After not playing together this spring until the Vanderbilt match on March 5, the duo has won five of six matches, including their last five. The Tigers' streak began with an 8-3 win over Troy in the No. 2 doubles match. Against Mississippi State, Haney and Cowart defeated Elna de Villiers and Martina Banikova, 8-5, in the No. 2 match. After reeling off two straight wins, head coach Tim Gray inserted Haney and Cowart in the No. 1 doubles slot vs. Ole Miss and they didn't disappoint, winning 8-4. Against Louisville, the duo defeated Robyn White and Maria Klokotzky of Louisville, 8-5. Versus Georgia State, the tandem earned an 8-7 win over Anne Breiholtz and Martina Nitkova.

Homeward Bound
Auburn's recent five-match homestand came after after the Tigers played eight of their first nine matches of the spring on the road. Auburn finally returned home to face Troy on March 8. Prior to facing the Trojans, Auburn's last four matches had been on the road.

Slow Starters
For the third straight year, Auburn began SEC play with a loss. Auburn's last victory in an SEC opener was in 2003, when the Tigers defeated Arkansas, 6-1. Auburn also defeated the Lady Razorbacks in 2002 to open SEC play.

Difficult Road
As if playing eight of its first nine matches on the road wasn't difficult enough, Auburn has also had the challenge of facing eight teams ranked in the top 70. Auburn has faced No. 7 Florida, No. 50 Florida State, No. 28 Kentucky, No. 68 Louisville, No. 33 Ole Miss, No. 34 South Carolina, No. 15 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Georgia Tech.

Try, Try Again
The Tigers' original match with Samford scheduled for Feb. 11, was cancelled due to cold temperatures. The two squads tried to reschedule the match for Feb. 17, but the meeting was once again cancelled due to rain. The match has once again been rescheduled for April 13 at 3 p.m.

Sunshine Tigers
Auburn opened the year with four straight matches in the state of Florida. The Tigers opened with matches with Jacksonville and North Florida on Jan. 22, before heading to Orlando, Fla., to play Stetson on Jan. 23. The Tigers ended their Florida road swing with their match at Florida State on Jan. 31. Auburn will make its only other appearance of the year in Florida at the SEC Tournament from April 20-23 in Gainesville, Fla.

For The Kids
On Friday, Feb. 3, the Tigers took a break in their practice schedule and drove to Birmingham, Ala., to visit the Children's Hospital. The Tigers spent four hours visiting with the patients from 3-7 p.m. Along with visiting with the patients, the Tigers also gave the patients 100 stuffed Tigers, which were made possible through the combined efforts of Tigers Unlimited, Anders Bookstore and J&M Bookstore.

SEC Co-Player of the Week
It did not take Auburn junior Dzeljan Memisi long to make a strong impression in the SEC. On Tuesday, Memisi was named SEC Co-Player of the Week on Jan. 24 after starting the season 2-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles. Memisi, a junior-college transfer from Tyler Junior College (Texas) won her first Division I match, 6-0, 6-3, over Jacksonville's Megan Williams. The second win was a 6-3, 6-3 win over Robin Rogers of North Florida. Memisi shared the award with Kentucky's Danielle Petrisko.

3-0, Again
Auburn opened the season 3-0 after posting victories at Jacksonville, North Florida and Stetson. The 3-0 start for the Tigers marked the fourth time in five years that Auburn had opened 3-0. The Tigers' first loss came in their fourth match of the spring against No. 50 Florida State on Jan. 30, 4-3. During that span, the only year Auburn did not start 3-0 was in 2005, when the Tigers lost their third match to Florida International.

Tigers Picked 11th In Coaches Poll
The Tigers were picked to finish 11th in the Southeastern Conference and sixth in the Western Division by the league's head coaches on Jan. 13. The Tigers accumulated 16 points in the poll, just four behind Mississippi State for fifth in the SEC West. Kentucky received the fewest votes with 12. Overall, Florida was picked as East Division and overall conference champion with 59 points. In the Western Division, Ole Miss led the way with 60 points, followed by LSU with 49.

Newcomers
Following the fall season when the Tigers just had six players on their roster, head coach Tim Gray signed three newcomers to start 2006. Joining the Tigers' squad is sophomore Leigh Tippins of Atlanta, junior-college transfer Dzeljan Memisi and freshman Fani Chifchieva. Chifchieva will redshirt during the spring season and will begin competing as a freshman in the fall. Memisi is a transfer from Tyler (Texas) Junior College, which won the 2005 NJCAA title. Memisi won the title in the No. 2 singles position at the 2005 Junior College National Championships. Memisi was a first-team All-American selection in singles and doubles in 2005. Tippins, who was the No. 4 player in the U.S. as a junior chose not to compete in college following high school. After two years out of tennis, Tippins contacted head coach Tim Gray and walked on to the team in the spring. Academically, Tippins is a junior, but given the NCAA five-year window, she has three years of eligibility.

New Era
Tim Gray is in his first season at the helm of the Tigers. Gray comes to Auburn after spending the past three years as the head coach at Eastern Michigan, where he accrued a record of 41-20. Gray has almost 20 years of head coaching experience at the collegiate level. While at Eastern Michigan, Gray led the team to the finals of the Mid-American Conference Championships two out of three seasons. Gray inherits a program that has finished higher than 10th in the Southeastern Conference just once in the past nine years.

All Ages Show
The 2005-06 roster is a unique mix of old and new. With the exception of sophomore Tori Almagno and juco transfer Dzeljan Memisi, everyone on the roster is either a senior or in their first year of collegiate tennis. Comprising the roster are two seniors, one junior, two sophomores and four freshmen.

Looking Ahead
Following trips to Arkansas and LSU, the Tigers hit the road one last time during the regular season on April 11 at South Alabama. The Tigers will conclude their home slate with a pair of home matches on April 13 vs. Samford and April 15 vs. Alabama.