NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The No. 9 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team fell 4-2 to the 12th-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders Friday afternoon in the first round of National Team Indoors.
Texas Tech claimed the doubles point and singles victories on courts two, four and six to end Vandy’s run in the prestigious tournament. With the loss, the ‘Dores own a 3-2 record and look to consolation play on Saturday and Sunday. VU is slated to take on Michigan tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. CT.
VU got off to a slow start in tandems, as Georgina Sellyn and Fernanda Contreras fell to Felicity Maltby and Gabriela Talbaba, 6-2. The Red Raiders nabbed what turned to be a paramount point with a 6-3 victory over Vandy’s No. 24 Astra Sharma and Emily Smith.
In singles, Vanderbilt took the majority of the first sets with Sharma, Sellyn, Smith and Christina Rosca all taking the opening set on courts one, three, six and four, respectively.
Ranked No. 4 in the nation, Sharma leveled the team score, 1-1, with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 15 Talbaba. The Aussie won six break points in what was her highest-ranked win of the season.
The ‘Dores looked to be mounting a comeback as Sellyn picked up the second singles win on the day, 6-0, 0-6, 6-1, while Sydney Campbell, Rosca and Smith were all fighting in third sets.
TTU began chipping away at the Commodore lead match-by-match, tying the score at 2-2 with an upset win. No. 116 Maltby defeated Vandy’s No. 8 Campbell on court two, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
Smith was narrowly edged out on court six to give Texas Tech the 3-2 advantage with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 loss to Katelyn Jackson. Both opponents earned five break points with Smith taking 82 of the match’s 162 total points.
The Red Raiders advanced into National Indoors quarterfinals, as No. 46 Rosca fell on court four in the final blow to Alex Valenstein, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-0. Kurtz was just entering her third set, down 0-1 to Sabrina Federici, when the match was clinched.
For updated tournament draws and results, head over to the ITA tournament page.
