The Blue Raiders played in tournaments in the fall but the collegiate tennis season officially starts in January.

"It is hard to get the girls motivated in the fall just because they are looking forward to the spring. The spring is finally here and we are just ready to go. We had a really good first week of practice last week and I think they are ready to go," head coach Alison Ojeda said.

The Blue Raiders will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., for the match with Tennessee which is set to begin at 5 p.m.

Tennessee is not the only SEC opponent Middle Tennessee will face this week. The Blue Raiders will also play Ole Miss on Sunday, Jan. 20 at 12:30 p.m.

The Blue Raiders add just two to their roster for the 2008 season. Junior transfer Andrea Herrera, who performed well in the fall, and freshman Shannon Hartmann.

Senior Ann-Kristin Siljestrom and Claudia Szabo will help guide the Blue Raiders in 2008. The Blue Raiders will also look to juniors Pooja Kommireddi and Elvira Yusupova and sophomore Stephanie Parkison. Parkison suffered an injury in early January but is expected to be able to play when the team hits the courts on Friday.

"Stephanie is an unfortunate situation. She is probably our number one player and hopefully she will be ready to play. She is definitely on of the leaders so we need her out there for the sake of everyone else. She is one of those girls who know how to bring out the best in everyone else when she is out on the court. Hopefully she will be ready to go on Friday," Ojeda said.

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