Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Face Three Matches in Texas
3/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 6, 2011
The Wake Forest women's tennis team will begin its Spring Break swing through Texas on Monday. The Deacs (3-5) will face No. 75 TCU on Monday, No. 32 Texas A&M on Wednesday and No. 48 on Rice Friday.
Last Time Out
The Demon Deacons got a much-needed win last Friday before leaving for their trip, cruising past Richmond 6-1 at Leighton Stadium. Wake swept the doubles point and got easy wins at the top five singles positions to earn the win.
The Deacons tweaked their lineup for the first time in a few matches, and it paid off. Emilee Malvehy teamed with Martina Pavelec in doubles for the first time since the fall and the two were the first ones off the court with an 8-2 win. At No. 3, Ryann Cutillo and Brigita Bercyte played together for the first time, erasing a 7-3 deficit to win 8-7 (0).
Emilee Malvhey and Kayla Duncan switched spots in the lineup with Malvehy winning 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 and Duncan clinching the match 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4.
Deacons in the Rankings
After defeating the then-No. 7 ranked team of Sanaa Bhambri and Sandhya Nagaraj from NC State for the season time this season , Wake Forest's No. 1 doubles tandem of Kayla Duncan and Kathryn Talbert vaulted back into the ITA Doubles Top 25 in this week's rankings, coming in at No. 17. Duncan and Talbert have gone 7-2 overall this season with two wins over ranked opponents.
Martina Pavelec climbed a few spots in the singles rankings to No. 45, while Emilee Malvehy stayed in the singles rankings at No. 118.
Wake Forest dropped to No. 73 in the team rankings, largely due to the fact that this was the first week that the team rankings were calculated by computer rather than through polls. The computer takes into account a team's best wins and Wake only has three this season.
Multiple Milestones Ahead
Emilee Malvehy and Martina Pavelec each sit two wins shy of milestone overall wins marks, and will have the opportunity to reach those numbers against TCU on Monday. Malvehy is sitting on 98 combined singles and doubles wins, having posted a career record of 98-118 (.454). Pavelec is at 48 total wins with a 48-38 (.558) career mark.
Kathryn Talbert got to 50 total wins in Friday's match against Richmond, picking up victories in singles and doubles to reach the milestone.
From Friend to Foe
Playing at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center in Fort Worth where Monday's match against TCU will take place won't exactly be a foreign location for Kayla Duncan. The junior transferred to Wake Forest this season after playing her first two years for the Horned Frogs, including earning the clinching point to give TCU the Mountain West championship last season.
Duncan was a standout at TCU, earning All-Mountain West honors in both of her seasons for the Horned Frogs. In her first season, she notched 27 singles wins, one shy of the TCU freshman record.
Finally Some Middle Ground
Wake Forest's team ranking has slipped since the beginning of the season, in part because a challenging schedule has made it difficult for the Demon Deacons to pick up wins. Of Wake's eight matches this season, two were against current top 10 teams and four were against teams currently ranked in the top 20. Two of the Deacs' three wins came against unranked foes, providing minimal help in improving their team ranking.
This week's matches against No. 75 TCU, No. 32 Texas A&M and No. 48 Rice give the Deacons the opportunity to pick up some wins over ranked opponents that would start moving their ranking toward the range to challenge for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Deacons vs. the Lone Star State
The Eyes of Texas have indeed been upon the Demon Deacons as they have posted only a 14-22 all-time record against teams from the state. Wake holds a 1-4 mark against TCU with the two teams last meeting in 2008 in Winston-Salem, a 5-2 win for the Horned Frogs.
The Demon Deacons do have a winning record against Texas A&M, owning a 7-5 all-time advantage. The Deacs and Aggies last faced off in 2009 in Winston-Salem, with Wake Forest coming out on top 5-1. Wake lost its only previous meeting with Rice back in 1987.
Twitter
For up-to-the minute Wake Forest tennis news, follow the Deacs on Twitter @WakeTennis or twitter.com/WakeTennis
Players Mentioned
