NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team kicked off the weekend defeating its first ranked foe of the season, topping 23rd-ranked Northwestern 5-2 Friday night.
The Commodores clinched a tight doubles point for the third match in a row and picked up victories on courts one, three, four and six to complete the win.
Fernanda Contreras and Georgina Sellyn gave Vanderbilt its first win of the day in a 6-4 victory on court three over Brooke Rischbieth and Reeya Doshi. VU later clinched the one-point advantage over NU as Emily Smith and Astra Sharma’s earned their first ranked win of the season in an upset over No. 6 Alex Charr and Maddie Lipp, 6-4.
Freshmen Emma Kurtz and Christina Rosca led No. 24 Lee Or an Erin Lerner, 5-4 at the clinch.
With the 1-0 advantage and momentum on her side, second-ranked Sharma raced through her match on court one against Larner. The redshirt-junior downed the Wildcat only allowing three games, 6-1, 6-2.
Kurtz extended her win streak to give VU the 3-0 advantage with a 7-5, 6-3 win on court four over Or. The Commodores first loss of the outing came on court five as Smith took the first set 6-2, but her opponent Rhyeena Doshi took the next two sets 6-3 and 6-4.
At 3-1, Sellyn came back from a 6-4 deficit to fight through two tights sets and clinch the victory, 4-6, 6-5, 7-5. With the match clinched both coaching staffs agreed to play out the match with No. 28 Rosca storming back into her first set and taking the next five games, 7-5. Her opponent, No. 104 Lipp, took the next two sets and the competition on court two, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.
Contreras provided the final blow, defeating Nina Van Oost 6-4, 7-5 to seal the 5-2 victory.
The Commodores will be back in action this Sunday, taking on the 7th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes at 1 p.m. The first 100 fans in attendance will receive a free Jimmy John’s sandwich
