COLUMBIA, Mo. – The fourth-ranked Vanderbilt women’s tennis team earned its first Southeastern Conference road victory of the season Friday evening, downing the Missouri Tigers 4-1.
With the victory, the Commodores now own a 10-2 overall record and a 3-0 start to conference play.
The Dores were a man down versus the Tigers on Friday, as redshirt senior and reigning SEC Player of the Year Astra Sharma was busy winning a quarterfinal match against Whitney Osuigwe 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(6) at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla.
Friday’s match began with the Commodores suffering a loss in the doubles department, as Missouri earned the point advantage with wins on courts one and two.
Emma Kurtz and Emily Smith dropped a 6-3 match to Marta Oliveira and Clare Raley on court one, while Christina Rosca and Amanda Meyer suffered their first loss of the year in a 6-4 loss on court two. Fernanda Contreras and Summer Dvorak trailed 3-5 at the conclusion of doubles play.
Vanderbilt took care of business in singles, however, winning every first set.
Ranked No. 5 in the country, Fernanda Contreras limited her opponent Serena Nash to two games throughout her match to level the overall score at 1-all. Contreras’ 6-1, 6-1 victory was her ninth-straight regular season SEC victory, a feat dating back to March 18, 2017. The junior out of Austin, Texas has just two SEC losses to her name.
No. 98 Meyer flew through her first set on court three against Ellie Wright, taking a perfect 6-0 start to the match. The freshman earned VU the 2-1 advantage by cruising through her second set versus Wright for her first win at No. 3 singles, 6-0, 6-3.
Dvorak earned Vandy the 3-1 lead, taking nine-straight points in a perfect second set tiebreaker, 6-3, 7-6(0). The victory was the junior’s sixth win of the dual season and 20th overall this year.
Rosca ensured the straight-set singles sweep, taking her match on court two 6-4, 6-2 against Mackenz Middlebrooks. With the victory the 27th-ranked player improves to 8-1 in her sophomore season.
Vanderbilt remains on the road this weekend, traveling to Fayetteville, Ark. on Sunday for a noon match-up against the No. 32 Razorbacks.
No. 4 Vanderbilt 4, Missouri 1
DOUBLES (order of finish: 1, 2)
Marta Oliveira/Clare Raley (MIZ) def. Emma Kurtz/Emily Smith (VU), 6-3
Amina Ismail/Serena Nash (MIZ) def. Christina Rosca/Amanda Meyer (VU), 6-4
Mackenzy Middlebrooks/Ellie Wright (MIZ) vs. Fernanda Contreras/Summer Dvorak (VU), 5-3 UF
SINGLES (order of finish: 1, 3, 5, 2)
#5 Fernanda Contreras (VU) def. Serena Nash (MIZ), 6-1, 6-1
#27 Christina Rosca (VU) def. Mackenzy Middlebrooks (MIZ), 6-4, 6-2
#98 Amanda Meyer (VU) def. Ellie Wright (MIZ), 6-0, 6-3
Taylor Gruber (MIZ) vs. Emma Kurtz (VU), 2-6, 6-4, 3-1, unfinished
Summer Dvorak (VU) def. Amina Ismail (MIZ), 6-3, 7-6 (0)
Emily Smith (VU) vs. Clare Raley (MIZ), 7-5, 5-4, unfinished
