MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The No. 7 University of the South men's tennis team opens up the 2022 Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Women's Tennis Tournament on Friday afternoon from the Adams Tennis Complex. The top-seeded Tigers will battle with the 8-seeded Warriors of Hendrix College in the quarterfinals.
THE BASICS
(8) Hendrix (6-12, 0-7) vs. (1) Sewanee (17-3, 7-0) | Friday, April 29, 2 p.m.
Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Adams Tennis Complex)
2022 Regular Season Meeting: April 10 in Conway, Ark. (Sewanee won, 9-0)
All-Time Sewanee SAA Tournament Record: 21-0
Total SAA Tournament Championships: 7
Postseason Record vs. Hendrix: Sewanee leads, 10-0
Previous Meeting: April 26, 2019 (Quarterfinals), Sewanee def. Hendrix, 5-0
EIGHT-TIME REGULAR SEASON CHAMPIONS: Sewanee secured its eighth SAA Regular Season crown after defeating Berry, 8-1, in Rome on April 23.
The Tigers, after winning seven straight regular season and tournament championships in the first seven years of the league, are back in the SAA Tournament since winning the event in 2019. The SAA did not conduct a championship in 2020 due to the pandemic, and in 2021, the University of the South was not allowed to travel as a part of the college's COVID-19 protocols.
NCAA REGION RANKINGS: Sewanee is listed in second in both Region IV of the NCAA Region Rankings and the Atlantic South of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings.
In singles,
Alice Hall is ranked sixth in the NCAA Region Rankings, while
Brooke Despriet and
Emma Smith are considered "In Consideration".
Hall, ranked 10th in the ITA's Atlantic South Region, is 10-5 so far this season, primarily playing at the No. 2 flight. The freshman is 8-4 in dual matches this spring.
Despriet, who has been at the No. 1 position all spring, is 8-8 overall and 5-7 in spring matches. Playing tough competition, the freshman has played five matches against nationally-ranked opponents and eight versus regionally-ranked foes. She currently sits in 11th in the latest region rankings administered by the ITA.
Smith, who finished as a quarterfinalist in the 2021 edition of the NCAA Individual Championships, sits at 12-5 so far in 2022. Recording a 10-win campaign this spring, the junior is 14th in the ITA singles region rankings.
In doubles, Despriet/Hall are the top team in both the NCAA and ITA rankings.
Ansley Carpenter and
Natalia Nassar are also ranked in the NCAA listing at No. 5.
Despriet/Hall is 11-2 this spring, as the team picked up two wins over nationally ranked competition over the team's spring break trip. So far, the team has won its last five points, including an 8-7 (4) win over Ana Cristina Perez/Christina Watson of Emory.
Ranked seventh in the ITA region rankings, Carpenter/Nassar has played flawlessly in the spring season, as the team finished the regular season with a perfect 14-0 record. The team's only blemish came in the quarterfinals of the ITA Regional Championships last fall.
