Women's Tennis Well Represented in ITA Preseason Rankings
9/17/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama women's tennis enters the 2015-16 season with four student-athletes appearing in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's preseason rankings, which were released this week. Junior Erin Routliffe, senior Maya Jansen and junior Danielle Spielmann are each nationally ranked in singles, while freshman Andie Danielle is ranked seventh in the Oracle/ITA Division I Women's National Newcomer/Freshman Rankings. Routliffe and Spielmann also appear at No. 17 in the national doubles rankings.
Routliffe enters the 2015-16 season ranked No. 21 in singles after turning in an overall record of 21-13 playing exclusively at the No. 1 singles position a season ago. Following the regular season, Routliffe became the 17th NCAA singles qualifier in the history of the Alabama women's tennis program. She defeated Duke's Ester Goldfield in the opening round of the NCAA Singles Championship, but later fell to Cal's (No. 4 seed) Maegan Manasse in the round of 32.
Jansen begins the 2015-16 campaign ranked No. 40 in singles following a team-best 27-5 record during her junior campaign. Jansen began the 2015 dual match season on a six-match win streak and collected 17 individual victories before suffering her second loss of the season in late April. She won 11 consecutive matches from March 6 - April 16 earning victories against three nationally ranked opponents over that span.
Spielmann is ranked No. 45 to begin her junior season following her second consecutive 20+ win season as a sophomore in 2014-15. Spielmann went 20-13 in singles a season ago, reaching as high as No. 54 in the national rankings. She turned in a 12-8 (8-4 SEC) record playing at No. 2 singles throughout the dual match season. Spielmann won a season-high six consecutive matches from March 22 - April 16, highlighted by a victory over Vanderbilt's No. 71 Astra Sharma.
Daniell, the No. 3 national recruit and the No. 1 player from the state of Georgia, begins her first collegiate campaign ranked seventh in the Oracle/ITA Division I Women's National Newcomer/Freshman Rankings. Over her prep career, Daniell won 10 national medals - five gold and five silver - as well as multiple state, section and ITF titles in both singles and doubles. She achieved the No. 1 national ranking in every USTA junior age group as her career has progressed.
Get all the latest information on the team by following AlabamaWTN on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.
