NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team improved to 2-0 at home this season with their 5-2 victory over Northwestern Sunday afternoon.
After picking up the doubles point with two set wins, the Commodores went 4-2 at singles to secure the win.
Seeing Double
- The Commodores continued their success from their opening match Friday as they secured the doubles point with ease Sunday.
- Anna Ross and Holly Staff teamed up on court one to take a 6-1 victory over the visiting Wildcat duo of Christina Hand and Briana Crowley.
- The point was secured moments later when Anessa Lee and Yufei Long defeated Clarissa Hand and Maria Shusharina on court three, 6-2.
- A tightly contested court two went in favor of the visiting squad as Marcella Cruz and Amy Stevens ultimately fell 6-4 to Sydney Pratt and Hannah McColgan.
Singles
- Ross made it 2-0, Dores, with her two set wins on court one. After defeating Clarissa hand 6-1 in the first set, she carried that momentum to a 6-3 victory to add to the Vanderbilt tally.
- Northwestern scored two quick points with consecutive wins on courts four and five. Cruz, who dropped her first set 6-2, fought back hard in the second set but fell 7-5 at singles No. 4 while Stevens dropped 6-3 and 6-2 decisions on court five, Sunday afternoon.
- Following a first set loss, Yufei Long stormed back to win a convincing 6-0 second set and force a decisive third set against the Wildcats’ Shusharina. After her opponent knotted things up multiple times throughout the final set, Long came up with the 6-4 final score and Commodores point at No. 3 singles to make it 3-2, Vanderbilt.
- In a nail-biting three-set match, Anessa Lee pulled off the Vanderbilt victory with her three-set win at No. 2 singles, Sunday afternoon. For the second straight contest, Lee’s first set was decided by the tie-break as the sophomore dropped a 7-6(6-3) decision to Northwestern’s Justine Leong. She followed up with a convincing 6-0 second set before rallying to a 6-4 match-clinching third set.
- Dasha Kourkina finished with a pair of 7-5 wins over Northwestern’s Christina Hand to give Vandy the 5-2 final, Sunday afternoon.
What They’re Saying
Head coach Aleke Tsoubanos
“What an incredible early season dual match. Northwestern is a well coached team with a lot of firepower and we knew going in with them it would be a hard fought match.”
“I’m really proud of the team for the way they battled and found ways back into matches on several courts. Our doubles looked really good and Anna is playing very impressive tennis right now. Putting that point on the board was huge for us.”
“Yufei’s comeback on court three really shifted momentum in the dual and Anessa losing a close first set and getting to a third and closing it out was such a high quality match.”
“It’s always tough to be the last match out knowing it may come down to you and I thought Dasha competed so well at six and I was happy for her to get the win.”
“We will try to recover and have a quick turnaround before heading to California for the ITA kickoff but looking forward to the challenge and a great match with San Diego on Friday.”
On the Radar
The Commodores will prepare for the ITA Kickoff Weekend in Berkley, California, Jan. 28-29. The team is set to take on San Diego on Day 1 before playing either Cal or BYU the following day.
