No. 9 Women’s Tennis Hosts Two Big Matches This Week

Feb. 9, 2011

CLEMSON, SC – The No. 9 Clemson Women’s Tennis team will play host to a pair of matches this week at the Clemson Indoor Tennis Center. Clemson (7-0) takes on Furman (1-1) on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. and No. 12 Georgia (3-1) on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.

Clemson and Furman met last season, with the Tigers taking a 7-0 decision on Feb. 4, 2010 in Greenville, SC. Clemson holds a 40-3 all-time mark against Furman and a 23-1 record in Clemson.

Clemson and Georgia played two terrific matches a season ago, with the No. 15 Tigers knocking of then-No. 4 Georgia, 4-3 in Athens, and then the ninth-seed Tigers defeated No. 19 Georgia, 4-2, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Clemson, SC. The Tigers prevented the Bulldogs from advancing to the Sweet 16, which was held at Georgia’s home facility.

The Tigers came back from a 3-1 deficit to win in Athens on Feb. 6, 2010. Laurianne Henry was the clinching point in both matches, winning in three sets in both matches. The Tigers dropped the doubles point before coming back to win in both matchups.

Josipa Bek is Clemson’s top singles player, as the junior is ranked 12th nationally. Fellow junior Keri Wong is ranked 48th nationally, and as a pair, the two are ranked No. 2 in the nation.

Furman features one ranked singles player, Monica Arguelle, who checks in at No. 63 in the nation. Georgia feature four ranked players, as well as the defending NCAA singles champion, Chelsey Gullickson.

The two matches will help Clemson to tune up for Final 16 of the 2011 ITA Team National Indoor Championships, which start on Feb. 18 in Charlottesville, VA. Both Clemson and Georgia have advanced in that tournament as well, and could possibly match up there.