MONROE, La. – The ULM tennis team will open play at the 2013 Sun Belt Championships as the No. 7 seed on Thursday, April 18, against No. 10 seed Florida Atlantic at 10 a.m., at the Cajun Courts in Lafayette, La.
The Warhawks (14-3) enter the SBC Championships riding a four-match winning streak, including a 6-1 victory at Arkansas State on April 13 in their regular season finale.
The winner of ULM and Florida Atlantic will advance to play No. 2 Georgia State on Friday at 10 a.m. The Panthers, in their first season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference, were one of four teams to receive a first round bye.
ULM is led by junior Medy Blankvoort, who has posted a 15-2 record at the No. 2 singles position this season. Blankvoort earned SBC Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors on Monday following her 6-1, 6-2 victory over Arkansas State's Janie Nowland over the weekend. Blankvoort has posted a stellar 31-3 record in singles play over the past two seasons.
All three of ULM's doubles pairings have winning records this season, highlighted by Blankvoort and freshman Justyna Krol's 13-1 record at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Sophomore Silvia Tumova and freshman Petra Horakova have gone 10-1 at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions and sophomore Sophie Rufyikiri and freshman Iris Van Leeuwen are 4-0 this season at the No. 3 position.
Florida Atlantic has posted an 8-9 overall record this season, including a 5-2 loss at FIU on April 10 in its final match of the regular season.
ULM is 3-6 all-time at the SBC Tennis Championships and has never faced Florida Atlantic in either regular season or postseason play.
