Jan. 22, 2010

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 25 women's tennis team opens up the 2010 dual season by hosting a doubleheader on Saturday, Jan. 23 against two Conference USA foes. The Crimson Tide faces off against UAB at 10:00 a.m. (CST) and Southern Mississippi at 3:00 p.m. (CST). Both matches will be held at the University of Alabama Tennis Stadium.

"We're looking forward to kicking off our home schedule this weekend with UAB and Southern Mississippi," head coach Jenny Mainz said. "Playing a doubleheader provides more invaluable match play which is our primary need at this time."

Last weekend, Alabama took part in the three-day UCF Quad Tournament. The Tide battled two ranked teams, No. 15 Florida State and No. 33 Illinois, along with the host team UCF. Sophomore Courtney McLane and freshman Alexa Guarachi each finished the weekend with a 2-1 record in singles. McLane picked up a huge win over Rachael White of Illinois, who is ranked 33rd in the preseason singles rankings. McLane and White split the first two sets, with the Alabama netter claiming the victory in a super tiebreak 10 points to seven. Guarachi lived up to her preseason ranking of No. 82, with her only loss on the weekend coming to No. 23 Lauren McCreless of Florida State in three sets. The two also teamed up to win all three of their doubles matches in the tournament. Freshman Antonia Foehse made her collegiate debut last weekend, competing in both singles and doubles for the Tide.

The match against Alabama will be the season opener for the Blazers as well. The Tide owns a commanding 19-1 advantage in the head-to-head series. UAB is looking to rebound from a tough season, in which the Blazers finished with a 6-9 record and 11th place in the Conference USA standings. This year's squad returns five upperclassmen, including four juniors.

Southern Mississippi will also be opening its 2010 dual season when it travels to Tuscaloosa. Alabama picked up a 7-0 sweep over the Golden Eagles last year at home, improving to 10-1 all-time against Southern Mississippi. The Golden Eagles finished last season with a 6-12 record and 12th place finish in the conference standings. Southern Mississippi has five upperclassmen on this year's squad, including a trio of seniors.

"Our goal is to step it up a notch from last weekend," Mainz added. "We've focused a lot on returns and setting up points this week and expect to see improvement."

Next up, the Tide travels to Atlanta to take part in ITA Kickoff Weekend on Saturday, Jan. 30 and Sunday, Jan. 31. Alabama will play SEC foe and 28th-ranked Kentucky on Saturday at 8:00 a.m. (CST). The Tide will also face off against either No. 30 Arizona State or host No. 10 Georgia Tech on Sunday at a time still to be determined.