Weekend Preview: No. 6 Tampa Return to the Sunshine State Conference
WEEK 6
Saturday, March 25th, 11:00 A.M. vs. No. 13 Lynn University @Perper Tennis Complex
Tampa come off a victory last Saturday, March 18th against Indiana University (Pa.).
SSC Teams with National Rankings: Tampa (6), Lynn (13)
SSC Players with National Pankings: Singles: Amaro (18), Younes (22), Djoubri (25), Schieroni (28) Doubles: Podbiol/Schieroni (16), Amaro/Sanchez (17)
No. 6 Tampa Spartan's Women's Tennis: (9-2, 3-1 SSC), 4th in the SSC vs No. 13 Lynn University Women's Tennis: (10-3, 2-2 SSC)
No. 6 Tampa vs No. 13 Lynn
Tampa's last match up was against Indiana Univeristy (Pa.) where they dominated winning 6-1. Out of the last six matches, this would the Spartans fifth 6-1 victory; showing fluent consistency in their gameplay. Although, they dropped doubles to IUP, the first time since February 17th, the Spartans did break a school record of consecutive wins to nine; looking to extend that record into double-digits. No. 18 Raquel Amaro (9-2) is on a hot-streak of nine-consecutive wins as she has not reached a third set since, February 17th against, Emily Tannenbaum (NAVY). Amaro has defeated three nationally ranked players over the course of the season to move her ranking from No. 41 to No. 18; two of her defeats were in a 24-hour timespan. The Spartans have four more players on their roster with a current win-streak of five or more matches: No. 67Victoria Sanchez (9-2), Savannah Williams, Aleks Topalovic, and Rebecca Presley. Presley, a freshman from Toronto, Canada has yet to be defeated with a record of 8-0. The hard-hitting English-native Topalovic, has proven her worth whether it's a shutout performance or down to the last point in tiebreaker sets.
The Spartans will matchup with some of the best in the country, Saturday morning having Lynn producing three Top 30 nationally ranked players to set forth. However, Lynn is coming off two back-to-back losses, one to a Division I No. 45 ranked Colorado State (4-2) and the other to Division II No. 1 ranked Barry University. The Fighting Knights looks to avenge these defeats with a redemption opportunity against the Spartans. Lynn's No. 25 Salma Djoubri (9-2) from Caudebec Les Elbeuf, France has had a excellent season at the No. 1 singles position, Though suffering her first two defeats within her last five matches, Djoubri has only conceded more than four games in the second set once and has yet to reach a third set this season. No. 18 Amaro vs No. 25 Djoubri on the main court is a box-office, must see matchup to come. No. 28 Greta Schieroni (6-2) will be at the No. 2 position facing Tampa's No. 67 Victoria Sanchez on Court 2. Schieroni, has lost her last two matches whereas Sanchez has won her last nine. In the No. 3 position will be No. 22 Kristin Younes (8-3) from Haifa, Israel. Younes, who originally was in the No. 2 position earlier this season will most likely go up against Tampa's Savannah Williams. She has won four of her last five matches whereas her upcoming opponent, Williams has won her last seven.
Doubles Radar Matchup:
Court 1: No. 17 Amaro/Sanchez (UT) vs No. 16 Podbiol/Schieroni (LYNN)
After a nine-match win streak for No.17 Amaro/Sanchez, they were defeated by Indiana University (Pa.)'s Kmoskova/Stralka: 6-3. This gave IUP a one-point advantage, however the Spartans came back winning six-straight singles to win the match. The seventeenth ranked doubles duo looked to rejuvenate and get back on track with this upoming matchup. No. 16 Podbiol/Schieroni are 4-2 together, winning their last match against No. 2 Khazan/Farfan: 6-0. Lynn is known to switch double teams, but as of right now this seems to be the likely matchup for Saturday, March 25th.
Live stats for all games this week can be found at Tampastats.com.
Live broadcasts for all games this week can be found at TampaSpartans.tv.