March 15, 2010

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The No. 15 Florida State women's tennis team (6-6, 0-1) will host its first Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Friday, March 19 as it welcomes in-state rival No. 16 Miami (7-3, 2-0) to the Scott Speicher Tennis Center at 4 p.m.Join the 'Noles in the fight against Breast Cancer in its Paint It Pin match.

"We have a very big matche this week against  Miami," FSU Head Coach Jennifer Hyde said. "Each and every year we play these guys we always have a good battle, and I don't expect this time around to be any different. We need to take full advantage of playing at home with our incredible crowds this week, something that all of us have really been looking forward to after the many road trips we've had this spring."

Leading the `Noles will be No. 46 Lauren McCreless (Ogden, Utah) who is coming off a great showing last week where the senior trumped two ranked opponents in No. 24 Josipa Bek of Clemson and Pepperdine's No. 81 Arianna Colffer.

Joining McCreless in the national singles poll is No. 30 Noemie Scharle (Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg) and No. 115 Katie Rybakova (Coral Springs, Fla.).

Senior Jessica Sucupira will also be guiding FSU against both teams as the Whitehouse, Texas native has won the last eight of ten matches. Sucupira currently holds the squad's best singles record of the season with 10-4.

"As we start entering into the meat of our ACC schedule, it's crucial that we keep improving with each practice and with each match we have," Coach Hyde said. "This week gives us a very good opportunity for this to happen and I know this team is up for it. They relish in the thought of Game Day, especially when there is so much to play for. This team loves to compete and they are really looking forward to this opportunity."

As for the Hurricanes, they will bring in three ranked singles players in No. 4 Laura Valverdu, No. 40 Bianca Eichkorn and No. 55 Anna Bartenstein and two ranked doubles pairs in No. 5 Gabriela Mejia and Valverdu and No. 50 Eichkorn and Bartenstein.

Like Georgia Tech, FSU also faced the `Canes twice last season with Miami sweeping both matches.

After losing to Miami in the regular season, 7-0, the `Noles fell to the conference opponent in the third round of the ACC Tournament, 4-0, to end their 9-0 winning streak.

Fans are encouraged to come support your nationally ranked Seminoles on and off the court as well as the Sharon Ewing Walker Breast Health Center and Paint it Pink presented by FOX49 this Friday. Pull out your Pink attire as the women will help to raise awareness for Breast Cancer Research. Free pink shakers will be given out to all fans in attendance and Pink T-Shirts will be available with a minimum $10 donation. The coaching staff and team will also be raffling off individually autographed hats and t-shirt combinations! Stop by the marketing table to pick up your raffle tickets; 1 ticket for $1 or 3 tickets for $2!

Follow the match with live stats on www.seminoles.com, Facebook on the Florida State Women's Tennis fan page and Twitter @ FSU_WTENNIS.