No. 11 Women’s Tennis Opens the 2011 Season Friday

Jan. 20, 2011

CLEMSON, SC – The Clemson women’s tennis team will open the 2011 season at the Clemson Indoor Tennis Center on Friday, Jan. 21 at 2:00 pm against Troy. The tennis action will continue straight through the weekend, as the Tigers play Memphis at 8:00 am on Saturday, and play a nightcap against USC Upstate at 5:00 pm.

Live scoring will be available for all matches at Clemsontigers.com, and admission is free to all events.

Clemson will open the season ranked 11th in the nation, after going 24-6 in 2010, and advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the fourth straight year.

Nancy Harris begins her 14th season at the helm of the program, and has established the Clemson program among the best in the country. She is 217-118 in her time at with the Tigers, and will become Clemson’s all-time leader in ACC wins with her next league victory.

Harris is a veteran of ten NCAA tournaments, two NCAA team Final Fours (2004, 2005), and six NCAA Sweet 16s (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010). She has also guided Clemson to ACC titles in 2004 and 2008.

Clemson returns five key players from last season’s run, including All-ACC selections Keri Wong and Josipa Bek. Bek enters the season ranked 12th in the nation in singles, while Wong checks in at #48 overall. As a doubles team, the pair had arguably the best fall in school history, and have ascended to #2 in the nation.

Also back is sophomore Laurianne Henry is the team’s lone senior, and is one of the team’s top clutch players, as she was responsible for clinching the match to send the Tigers to the Sweet 16 in each of her first three seasons.

Freshmen Maria Belaya are ready to contribute, as is sophomore Caroline Magnusson, who had a strong freshman campaign.

The Tigers will hold another doubleheader on Jan. 25 in preparation for the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Jan. 29-30.