April 12, 2006

AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn women's tennis team will host Samford on Thursday at 3 p.m. at the Luther Young Tennis Complex. Thursday's match with the Bulldogs is a makeup match after the originally scheduled match on Feb. 11 was canceled due to inclement weather. Auburn's match with Samford is its second of three matches during the week. The Tigers (5-16, 0-10 Southeastern Conference) fell 5-2 at South Alabama on Tuesday and host Alabama on senior day on Saturday at 3 p.m. Auburn's match with the Bulldogs, will be its first vs. an unranked opponent since March 17. The Tigers have faced ranked opponents in seven straight matches and nine of its last 10. Auburn will conclude its regular season with a home match against Alabama at 3 p.m. Saturday.

About Samford
Samford is 12-5 this season and 8-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Bulldogs are coming off a 7-0 win over Tennessee State. Samford was champions of the Ohio Valley in 2004. The Bulldogs finished fifth in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2005 with a 11-7, 5-4 record. The Bulldogs have won two in a row and five of their last six. Thursday's match concludes the regular season for Samford. The Tigers are 7-0 all-time against Samford.

Last Time Out
Alex Haney and Whitney Chappell won the No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches against No. 58 South Alabama, but it was not enough to carry the Auburn women's tennis team past the Lady Jags, who downed the Tigers, 5-2, on Tuesday. Playing its final road match of the regular season, Auburn (5-16, 0-10 Southeastern Conference) dropped four singles matches and the doubles point, as South Alabama (12-7, 4-0 Sun Belt Conference) won its second match in a row. Haney's victory in the No. 1 singles match was her third over a ranked opponent this spring, as she topped 91st-ranked Adrianna Solarova, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. Haney's victory was her seventh in her last nine matches and snapped Solarova's eight-match win streak. With her win in the No. 2 singles match, Chappell snapped her seven-match losing skid, as she knocked off Jelena Krivacevic, 7-6, 6-2. Prior to Chappell's recent losing streak, she had won three matches in a row.

Haney Still Going Strong
Alex Haney continued her hot stretch on Tuesday with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 win over 91st-ranked Adrianna Solarova of South Alabama. Haney's win snapped Solarova's eight-match win streak. Haney has won seven of her last nine matches, which included a five-match win streak. 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. Haney split her two matches vs. Arkansas and LSU. At Arkansas, Haney fell to No. 31 Aurelija Miseviciute, 6-0, 6-1. Versus LSU, Haney defeated Mykala Hedbert, 6-4, 7-5. 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.

Chappell Back On Track
Whitney Chappell snapped her seven-match losing streak, as she topped South Alabama's Jelena Krivacevic, 7-6, 6-2, in the No. 2 singles match. Chappell's victory was her first since March 16.

Cowart And Haney Dominate LSU
Ashley Cowart and Alex Haney both had LSU's number on Feb. 9, as the duo each won their singles matches and then paired together to defeat LSU in the No. 1 doubles match. Playing in the No. 2 position, Haney got past Mykala Hedbert, 6-4, 7-5. Playing her first match of the season in the No. 4 position, Cowart topped Lauren Seaman, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-0. In doubles, Cowart and Haney topped LSU's Tiffany Tucker and Mykala Hedberg in the No. 1 match, 8-6.

Tippins Stepping Up
Although Tippins has missed five straight matches due to injury, she still has a two-match win streak in singles play. 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.

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 10 teams ranked in the top 70. Auburn has faced No. 7 Florida, No. 50 Florida State, No. 50 Arkansas, No. 61 LSU, 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 Thursday's match with Samford, the Tigers conclude the regular season with a home match against Alabama on Saturday. The match is at 3 p.m. at the Luther Young Tennis Complex.