ATLANTA--The Georgia State women's tennis team travels
west for yet another nationally-ranked showdown against the No. 68-ranked
Auburn Tigers on Saturday (1 p.m. EST).
Saturday's
match marks the fourth nationally-ranked opponent for the Panthers (2-2) in as
many matches this season. It is the fifth meeting all-time between the GSU and
Auburn and the first since the 2009 spring season.
With
both teams sporting nationally and regionally-recognized doubles teams,
Saturday's match will be a closely-fought contest from the onset. Georgia State
tops its doubles lineup with the No. 19-ranked duo of junior Abigail
Tere-Apisah and sophomore Masa Grgan. The two Panthers are 2-2 this season with
its two losses coming to nationally-ranked doubles pairings. The duo is also
ranked No. 2 in the Southeast Regional rankings.
Leading
the way for Auburn (3-1) are two nationally-ranked doubles pairings. Senior
Plamena Kurteva and freshman Pleun Burgmans hold down the No. 1 spot and are
ranked No. 24 in the ITA National Doubles rankings. Junior Jackie Kasler and sophomore
Jen Pfeifler are Auburn's second nationally-ranked pair at No. 28 in the
nation. Auburn's two pairings are also regionally ranked at No. 2 and No. 8
respectively in the Southern Region rankings.
Auburn
sports three regionally-ranked singles players in Kasler (#10), Burgmans (#12)
and Pfeifler (#14). Burgmans will likely take on GSU's No. 29-ranked Abigail
Tere-Apisah in the No. 1 position on Saturday. The Tigers own a 4-0 victory
over current No. 71-ranked DePaul from the ITA Kick-Off Weekend and are coming
off back-to-back wins vs. Georgia Southern and Alabama A&M at home last
weekend.
Georgia
State, led by sixth-year head coach Miha Lisac, enters Saturday's match looking
to bounce back from a narrow 4-3 defeat to No. 33-ranked Illinois. The Panthers
trailed 2-0 before mounting a comeback to tie the match at 3-3. The match came
down to the No. 6 singles match and GSU's Jocelyn Ffriend. Ffriend battled
through a second-set deficit and fought off three match points to head to a
third set. But the graduate student, who clinched GSU's 4-3 upset over No. 40
Oklahoma State the previous weekend, fell in the third set to give Illinois the
win.
Live
stats will be available from Saturday's match courtesy of auburntigers.com.
Fans can also receive updates from the match by following the women's tennis
team on Twitter at "@GSUWTennis". Visit the women's tennis page on
GeorgiaStateSports.com following each match for a full recap and all results.
www.GeorgiaStateSports.com
