lady vol tennis starts season at no. 24 in ita poll

KNOXVILLE - The University of Tennessee women’s tennis team will start the 2009 campaign right where it left off in 2008, as it is ranked No. 24 in the initial team poll of the season conducted by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).

All seven players on the squad earned individual rankings in either the singles or doubles polls released recently as well.

Senior Samantha Orlin leads all Lady Vols with a No. 77 national singles ranking.

The Miami, Fla., native tallied a 6-4 record during the fall season, including the first two victories of her career over ranked opponents. Junior Caitlin Whoriskey is ranked just behind her at No. 92 after putting up a team-best 8-5 mark this past fall.

She is also the highest rated UT player in the Southeast regional rankings, coming in at No. 12, while sophomore Rosalía Alda was tabbed as the 28th-best player in the region.

The Tennessee tandem of Whoriskey and sophomore Maria Sorbello was the lone Big Orange squad to earn a ranking in the national doubles poll, as it was placed at No. 19. The duo amassed a squad-best 7-4 record this fall and tallied a trio of wins over ranked opponents.

Three other UT units claimed spots in the regional rankings, however, topped by Whoriskey and fellow junior Zsófia Zubor at No. 5, despite the fact that they played just two matches together this fall.

Last season, Whoriskey and Zubor tallied an impressive 25-13 record, rising to as high as No. 2 in the nation in the process.

The combo of sophomore Jennifer Meredith and freshman Natalie Pluskota, which was 5-1 in the fall, claimed the seventh position in the regional poll, while Alda and Sorbello were ranked ninth after notching a fall record of 3-1.

The Lady Vols will open the spring portion of their schedule at the Michigan Invitational from Jan. 17 to 19.

UT’s first dual match will take place at 1 p.m. on Sat., Jan. 24, against Illinois in Champaign, Ill.

From there, the Big Orange will travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to take on Purdue at 2 p.m. the following day.