Gameday: Women's Tennis Battles Tulane And Memphis

Match 3: ECU (0-2) at Tulane (4-2)
Date	Friday, Feb. 8
Time	2:30 p.m. (EST)
Location	New Orleans, La. (City Park Tennis Center)
Social Media	Twitter: @ecuwtennis Instagram: @ecuwtennis Facebook: ECU Pirates Women's Tennis

Match 4: ECU (0-2) vs. Memphis (1-3)
Date	Saturday, Feb. 9
Time	12 noon (EST)
Location	New Orleans, La. (City Park Tennis Center)
Social Media	Twitter: @ecuwtennis Instagram: @ecuwtennis Facebook: ECU Pirates Women's Tennis

GREENVILLE, N.C. After two weeks off from competition, the ECU women's tennis team will matchup with a pair of conference foes in New Orleans, La.

"It's great to get back on the court with match play after two weeks of solid practice," said head coach Tom Morris. "I feel our team Is playing well and we are looking forward to the opportunity to play both Tulane and Memphis this weekend. Last year, we played very close matches against both schools and had opportunities to win both matches but fell short against Tulane 4-3 and Memphis 4-2. Both Memphis and Tulane have solid teams this year, so I expect that we will have two very challenging matches again this weekend.

ECU (0-2) challenged itself in the early going of the season, traveling to take on ACC foes NC State and No. 3 North Carolina. Although the Pirates fell 7-0 in both of their matches, there were signs of encouragement. The top ECU doubles pairing of Lisa Hofbauer and Alisa Diercksen is ranked No. 49 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and the pair battled with ranked foes in each of their losses. Hofbauer and Diercksen nearly knocked off the Tar Heels' second-ranked duo, as it took a tiebreaker for North Carolina to escape with the win.

Nastja Rettich leads ECU with an 8-5 singles record while Diercksen also has eight wins. In their debut season, Martina Paladini-Jennings is the other Pirate above .500, with a 6-5 mark while Minette Van Vreden is 5-6. ECU will also be buoyed by the return of three-time All-AAC performer Celia Ruiz, who missed the latter part of the fall season and the beginning of the spring due to injury. In doubles, Diercksen and Hofbauer have a 5-3 mark to lead the Pirates.

First up this weekend will be a road match at Tulane (4-2). The Green Wave started the season with four straight wins, but have lost its past two matches against No. 18 LSU and Ole Miss. Alex Alegre leads Tulane with a 9-6 record while Ivone Alvaro also has nine victories. Laura Fabrizi has held the No. 1 spot for Tulane and has won two of four matches on the top court and has a 6-7 record overall. In doubles, Alvaro and Elena Muller are a team-best 6-1, including 4-0 on court one. Alegre and Laura Fabrizi are 4-2 and have gone 3-1 on court three.

ECU will finish the weekend against Memphis (1-3). The Tigers began their season with three straight losses, but got a win against Northern Arizona. Laura Bente leads Memphis with a 9-7 singles record while Lina Hohnhold is 8-4. Bente and Alisa Reayer has been the two main occupants of the top two singles courts for Memphis. In doubles, the Tigers won the doubles point in their win over Northern Arizona thanks to wins by Bente and Reayer on court one and Katherine Coa and Hannah Davis on court two.

Both matches will played at the City Park Tennis Center in New Orleans, La. First serve for ECU's match against Tulane is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., on Friday afternoon. The Pirates will return to the courts for a 12 noon match on Saturday against Memphis.

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Players Mentioned

Alisa Diercksen

Lisa Hofbauer

Martina Paladini-Jennings

Nastja Rettich

Celia Ruiz

Minette Van Vreden

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