BATON ROUGE, La. – The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team’s hopes of competing in their second consecutive SEC championship match were dashed, as the third-seeded Georgia Bulldogs handed VU its first 4-0 sweep of the season and fifth loss overall.
Saturday afternoon’s match began with the Commodores faltering in doubles for the first time this season against the Bulldogs, as courts one and three fell 6-3.
Down 5-1 against No. 12 Perez/Gould, No. 13 Courtney Colton and Sydney Campbell saved two match points claiming back-to-back deuce points to chip away at the lead, 5-3. On three, senior Ellie Yates and freshman Fernanda Contreras were down 4-1 to win two additional games, before the defeat.
Frances Altick and Astra Sharma were tied on court two, 4-all, when the point advantage was clinched.
In singles action, the ‘Dores found themselves on the wrong end of several tight first sets, going 1-5, with the squad’s only victory coming on court five as Contreras pulled out her first set tiebreaker, 7-6. The close first sets, could come back to haunt the Commodores, as UGA took the sweep in three straight set victories.
As the freshman was wrapping up the breaker, the Commodores lost their first singles match as No. 19 Campbell fell to No. 3 Ellen Perez, 6-4, 6-0. The loss on one was followed by Colton dropping her match on four to No. 30 Brinson 6-2, 6-3.
Dropping her first set 6-3 on court two to No. 47 Shaffer, 13th-ranked Altick saved match point, but ultimately suffered an upset 6-3, 6-4 loss on court two to end the Commodores chances of a repeat SEC championship win.
Contreras, Sharma and Georgina Sellyn were all furiously battling early in their third sets, tied at 1-all on courts three and six and up 2-1 on five.
Vanderbilt now looks towards the NCAA tournament selection show, where the ‘Dores look to make their 22nd-consecutive appearance in the tournament. The NCAA DI Women’s Tennis (Team) Selection Show will air Tuesday, May 3rd at 4:00 pm CT on NCAA.com
