PALO ALTO, Calif. – In one of the most competitive matches so far this season, the No. 7 Vanderbilt Commodores fell just shy of a victory, as the No. 25 Stanford Cardinal denied a comeback with a 4-3 win.
“This was a heartbreaker, but we learned a lot from this match and we’ll get better,” said head coach Geoff Macdonald. “Matches like this one are the reason we play such a tough schedule. I just told the team that they just experienced lessons that you can’t read about… you have to be in the situation to understand them. They now see what is required to become a really tough player. It’s an invaluable education.”
With the loss, the `Dores begin Southeastern Conference play with a 5-4 record. VU is 4-3 while playing indoors and own a 1-1 outdoor record.
The Cardinal began Sunday’s matinee by claiming the doubles point with victories on courts two and three.
Stanford earned the first win of the match, not allowing VU’s Christina Rosca and Emma Kurtz a game in its 6-0 win on court three. Vanderbilt’s Astra Sharma and Emily Smith earned a dominant win on court one, taking five games in a row before allowing Stanford their first. Following four match points the duo leveled the doubles point, 6-3.
Stanford clinched what proved to be a pivotal doubles point, pulling off a tough 6-4 victory over Sydney Campbell and Georgina Sellyn. The Commodore duo broke serve for three of their four points and took three deuce points.
The tandems loss was the squad’s fourth of the season. After dropping five of six first sets in singles, Vandy stormed back into the match.
“This was a great character match for us. We lost the doubles point and five first sets and then were in a position to win. Astra (Sharma) and Syd (Campbell) played phenomenal tennis and we fought really well at four, five and six.”
Ranked No. 5 in the nation, Sharma quickly leveled the score to one point apiece as the Perth, Australia native downed No. 65 Taylor Davidson in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.
Following a 6-0, 7-5 victory by No. 8 Melissa Lord over Sellyn, the match was knotted once more as No. 16 Campbell rebounded from a first set loss to defeat No. 37 Carolina Doyle, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Stanford claimed the 3-2 lead on court six as No. 43 Emma Higuchi stuck around long enough in her match against VU’s Emily Smith to earn a close third set win, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
No. 60 Rosca was up 5-2 in the third set but allowed Lampl back into the competition to send court four to a vital third-set tiebreaker. Lampl, who ended the Commodores run in the 2016 NCAA tournament, went into the breaker 11-6 in third sets. However, Rosca capitalized on a few of the sophomores’ unforced errors to knot the match once more, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(3).
With the match resting on her shoulders, Kurtz played resilient tennis on court five against her first ranked opponent of the dual season, No. 49 Emily Arbuthnott. Kurtz was down 3-5 in the third set against the fellow freshman and took two deuce points to level the score at 5-5. The Atlanta native played patiently, waiting for her opponent to breakdown. The defensive tactic paid off, as Arbuthnott sent a ball just long to take the match to its second third-set tiebreaker.
Kurtz earned a 5-3 lead in the breaker off a spree of quick points, but the Cardinal rebounded to clinch the upset, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(5).
“We try to play a really challenging non-conference schedule to get ready for the SEC and tournament. I give Stanford a lot of credit they fought really hard and are really good. We’ll now take a day off and get back to work to get ready for conference play. In the SEC, there’s no rest for the weary.”
No. 25 Stanford 4, No. 7 Vanderbilt 3
DOUBLES
1) No. 32 Sharma/Smith (VANDY) d. Arbuthnott/Davidson (STAN) 6-3
2) No. 36 Doyle/Lord (STAN) d. Campbell/Sellyn (VANDY) 6-4
3) Higuchi/Lampl (STAN) d. Kurtz/Rosca (VANDY) 6-0
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
SINGLES
1) No. 5 Astra Sharma (VANDY) d. No. 65 Taylor Davidson (STAN) 6-4, 6-1
2) No. 16 Sydney Campbell (VANDY) d. No. 37 Carolyne Doyle (STAN) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
3) No. 8 Melissa Lord (STAN) d. Georgina Sellyn (VANDY) 6-0, 7-5
4) Christina Rosca (VANDY) d. No. 83 Caroline Lampl (STAN) 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5)
5) No. 49 Emily Arbuthnott (STAN) d. Emma Kurtz (VANDY) 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5)
6) No. 43 Emma Higuchi (STAN) d. Emily Smith (VANDY) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2, 6, 4, 5
