The Auburn women's tennis team is heading north to New Haven, Conn., this weekend to begin its spring season at the Yale Invitational.
Unranked Auburn will face three ranked opponents in No. 22 Tulsa, No. 30 Yale and No. 61 Purdue in a three-day series of singles and doubles matches beginning Friday.
Tulsa finished its fall campaign with two semifinal losses in two separate draws of the Memphis Invitational in early November.
The Golden Hurricanes went 26-3 in 2011 with strong play from Samantha Vickers and Anastasia Erofeeva, both ranked in the top 100 nationally.
In the USTA/ITA Northeast Regional Championship, Yale sent two doubles teams to the semifinals and two players to the singles semifinals.
Junior Elizabeth Epstein was the only player to make it to the championship, losing to No. 1 seed Nicole Bartnik in the finals.
The Boilermakers ended their fall season with a win over Vanderbilt, a Sweet 16 team last year.
Still, first-year coach Lauren Meisner is optimistic about Auburn's chances.
"I believe this is a great starting tournament for our spring season," she said. "I am very familiar with the teams coming to the tournament, and based on the hard work that the team has put in this week, I believe we are up for the challenge."
Last spring Auburn went 5-19, including an 0-7 record against nationally ranked teams, costing former coach Tim Gray his job and leading Auburn to court the 2009 C-USA Coach of the Year in Meisner.
The team's expectations are high after ending the fall season with two doubles and three singles titles at the Cougar Fall Draw in Houston.
The coaches and players believe they have the ability to defeat a nationally ranked team and begin the semester strong.
"The team finished strong in the fall and came back from break ready to go," Meisner said. "They really hit the ground running.
"I am very excited to see what this young team can do against some nationally ranked teams that will be visiting Yale."
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
