COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The No. 8 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team put up a hard fought effort in the Lone Star State, but broke its six-match win streak falling 4-3 to the No. 10 Texas A&M Aggies. Vanderbilt now owns a 15-6 dual record, with just two losses and 10 wins in SEC play.
“It was an incredible college tennis match, period,” said head coach Geoff Macdonald. “It was so competitive. Doubles point came down to a tiebreaker, and we got it. And then the match came down to a tiebreaker, and they got it. We were a point away from winning the match, but give them credit A&M is a really good team. But I’m so proud of our team, we competed with so much heart that if you love Vanderbilt you’re proud of this team. They just lay it on the line and compete so hard. The match was just past four hours, and we gave it everything we had but fell a little short. But the effort was great and we’re excited to head to LSU to finish out the regular season then get ready for the tournament. The growth and improvement of the team and the players on the team has really been impressive.”
Vanderbilt’s 15th ranked Astra Sharma and Ashleigh Antal continued to make great strides as a tandem, continuing their undefeated status in the No. 2 spot, 11-0 (9-0). The duo earned a valuable ranked win over the No. 18 team of Ines Deheza/Stefania Hristov; 8-4.
VU’s success continued on court three as Marie Casares and Frances Altick garnered a quality win to seal the doubles point as the duo were taken to a tiebreaker. Altick/Casares earned their second ranked win in a row, taking down No.68 Bhosale/Gavrilovska 8-7(3).
The `Dores continued their tenacious play into singles, but the points did not fall their way as the Aggies soon tied the match score at 2-all with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Colton on court four.
SEC Freshman of the Week, No. 44 Sharma, earned another ranked win for the black and gold at the No. 2 spot, defeating No. 52 Rutuja Bhosale. The Aussie only allowed the TAMU sophomore three games in her 6-3, 6-0 victory.
The match score fluctuated once more, favoring the Aggies as Eva Paalma took court five over No. 88 Casares in a tight 6-4, 6-4 win to even the score.
With the match tied, the `Dores banded together with Junior Altick leading the way as the Commodore vet pulled out a phenomenal win at No. 3 singles. After winning the first set 6-4 over Ines Deheza, Altick was taken to a tiebreaker giving Vandy the 3-2 advantage; 6-4, 7-6(5).
Ashleigh Antal played with great resilience on court six, taking her first set in a tiebreaker 7-6(5). However A&M’s Mamalat used the loss as motivation, defeating Antal in the second and third sets 6-2, 6-2.
With the match tied at 3-all, all hopes rested on court one where No. 7 Sydney Campbell and No. 39 Rachel Pierson were battling head to head. Campbell fell in her first set 3-6, but the marathon match was far from over as the SEC Player of the Week came back in the second to split, 6-3. In true SEC fashion, the third set came down to a tiebreaker but Campbell and the Commodores were slighted, falling 7-6(4).
The Commodores wrap up regular season play on Sunday, as Vandy travels to the Bayou State to take on the LSU Tigers at 11:00 am.
Results:
#10 Texas A&M 4, #8 Vanderbilt 3
Singles — Order of finish: 4, 2, 5, 3, 6, 1
- #39 Rachel Pierson (A&M) def. #7 Sydney Campbell (VU), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4)
- #44 Astra Sharma (VU) def. #52 Rutuja Bhosale (A&M), 6-3, 6-0
- Frances Altick (VU) def. Ines Deheza (A&M), 6-4, 7-6 (5)
- #45 Saska Gavrilovska (A&M) def. #80 Courtney Colton (VU), 6-0, 6-3
- Eva Paalma (A&M) def. #88 Marie Casares (VU), 6-4, 6-4
- Anna Mamalat (A&M) def. Ashleigh Antal (VU), 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2
Doubles — Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
- #33 Paalma/Pierson (A&M) def. #16 Campbell/Colton (VU), 8-4
- #15 Antal/Sharma (VU) def. #18 Ines Deheza/Stefania Hristov (A&M), 8-4
- Altick/Casares (VU) def. #68 Bhosale/Gavrilovska (A&M), 8-7 (3)
Team records:
Texas A&M: 14-4, 10-2 SEC
Vanderbilt: 15-6, 10-2 SEC
