No. 20 Arkansas on the Road at South Carolina and Florida

March 11, 2021

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The No. 20 University of Arkansas women’s tennis team returns to action this weekend, at South Carolina on Friday, March 12 and at Florida on Sunday, March 14.

“Every match for us is a great physical and mental opportunity in this league, so I’m really looking forward to this weekend being on the road,” said head women’s tennis coach Courtney Steinbock. “Competing in the SEC, you will always have good, tough, quality opponents so we see this weekend as just another opportunity for us to continue to gauge where we’re at, both individually and collectively. We had a great win against Vandy and just didn’t have enough in the tank against Kentucky. I have no doubt we will regroup, reset and respond.”

Last weekend was a busy one for Arkansas, who split the weekend when they upset then-ranked No. 9 Vanderbilt and dropped their Sunday match to Kentucky. The loss was Arkansas’ first of the season, as the Hogs opened their 2021 campaign on a 10-match win streak, the best start since 2005.

For her success on the court last weekend against the Commodores and Wildcats, junior Kelly Keller was named SEC Newcomer of the Week. She won both singles and doubles matches against Vanderbilt and was leading her singles opponent on Sunday vs Kentucky – playing in the No. 2 position in both matches. She handed Vanderbilt duo Rosca and Lee just their second loss of the season, while defeating VU’s Emma Kurtz, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Keller improved to 6-3 in singles play and 7-1 in doubles play.

Coming into the matchup on Friday, South Carolina holds a 4-9 overall record and are 1-5 in league play this year. The Gamecocks come off four-straight losses to ranked SEC opponents. Last weekend, the Gamecocks faced No. 21 Tennessee and No. 3 Georgia, dropping both matches 4-0.

Florida is also coming off a loss against No. 21 Tennessee, dropping the match, 4-2. The Gators are led by their top two competitors in McCartney Kessler and Marlee Zein. They both won their singles’ matches against the high-powered Volunteers and won their doubles’ match for their seventh-straight victory together.

Friday’s match in Columbia, S.C. is slated for 5 p.m. (CT) and Sunday’s match at Florida is set for a 1 p.m. start. Live scoring links and access to live streams for both matches is available on our schedule page, here.

Fans are encouraged to visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com for the latest information on all things Arkansas Women’s Tennis. You can also find the Hogs on social media by liking us on Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Women’s Tennis) and following us on Twitter and Instagram (@RazorbackWTEN).