WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Vanderbilt women’s tennis won an impressive 11 combined matches on Friday at the USTA/ITA Ohio Valley Regional at the Schwartz Tennis Center.
All six players won their first round singles matches and two of the three doubles teams advanced to the quarterfinals.
“It was a great all around day for our team today,” said assistant coach Aleke Tsoubanos. “Fantastic effort in every single match. We went five-for-six in doubles and all three teams played with energy and enthusiasm which is something we’ve stressed this fall.”
Marie Casares advanced to the second round after defeating Xavier’s Alex Brinker 7-5, 6-2. Casares, who is the No. 3 seed in the singles bracket, will play Tennessee’s Tiffany Tavares on Saturday for a bid in the round of 16.
Ashleigh Antal, the No. 11 seed in the singles bracket, defeated Liza Tymechenko from Memphis 6-3, 6-2 to move on to the second round. Antal will face Claudia Escribens from Purdue at approximately 1 p.m.
Courtney Colton won her first round singles match over Jovana Pecovski from Chattanooga 6-0, 6-1. With the win, Colton is now 4-0 on the season in singles matches to begin her collegiate career. She will play Kristina Labeja of Eastern Kentucky Saturday at approximately 1 p.m.
No. 4 seed Lauren Mira defeated Ball State’s Courtney Wild 6-1, 6-4. Mira will now face Irina Constantinide of Middle Tennessee State tomorrow morning at 10:15.
Georgina Sellyn and Frances Altick wrapped up the day with a win apiece in their singles matchup. Sellyn beat Skylar Kuykendall from Memphis 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-2, to advance to the second round on Saturday at 9 a.m.
Altick defeated Amandine Faouzi from Eastern Kentucky 6-2, 6-1. She will play Purdue’s Mara Schmidt in the second round at 10 a.m.
Colton and Mira advanced to the quarterfinals in doubles after they defeated Purdue’s Claudia Escribens and Krisztina Kapitany, 8-4. It marked the second time in two days that a Vandy duo has taken on the Purdue doubles team of Escribens and Kapitany. This time the Commodores came out on top.
Colton and Mira will face Lyn Yee Choo and Anna Gerbasi of East Tennessee State tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. for a spot in the semifinals.
Antal and Casares continued the winning momentum as they also advanced to the doubles quarterfinals following a win versus Chattanooga’s Kaylene Chadwell and Jenna Nurik, 8-2. The Commodore pairing will take on Caitlin McGraw and Jessica Stiles from Kentucky at 9 a.m.
The third and final Vanderbilt doubles team of Altick and Sellyn were knocked out of contention after falling to the No. 1 seed from Tennessee, 8-2.
Vanderbilt began the day with doubles competition. Antal and Casares picked up the first win of the day after defeating Jasmine Lee and Ashleigh Witte from Cincinnati, 8-3. Antal and Casares are the No. 3 seed in the doubles bracket.
The duo of Colton and Mira entered doubles action as the No. 6 seed and needed little time to win their first round match. Colton and Mira defeated Ball State’s Bethany Moore and Courtney Wild, 8-1 to advance to the round of 16.
Altick and Sellyn then took the court for the final first round doubles action for Vanderbilt. The Vandy pair defeated Kentucky’s Khristina Blajketvitch and Edmee Morin-Kougoucheff, 8-5.
“We spent almost 12 hours at the courts today so it was a long, challenging day and tomorrow will be more of the same,” Tsoubanos said. “I expect us to go out and compete with the same spirit and intensity tomorrow.”
Play resumes Saturday morning at 8 a.m. as Vanderbilt looks to advance in both singles and doubles.
Main Draw Results
Round of 64 Singles:
(9) Courtney Colton (Vanderbilt) def. Jovana Pecovski (Chattanooga) 6-0, 6-1
(3) Marie Casares (Vanderbilt) def. Alex Brinker (Xavier) 7-5, 6-2
(11) Ashleigh Antal (Vanderbilt) def. Liza Tymechenko (Memphis) 6-3, 6-2
(4) Lauren Mira (Vanderbilt) def. Courtney Wild (Ball State) 6-1, 6-4
Georgina Sellyn (Vanderbilt) def. Skylar Kuykendall (Memphis) 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-2
Frances Altick (Vanderbilt) def. Amandine Faouzi (Eastern Kentucky) 6-2, 6-1
Round of 16 Doubles:
(6)Colton/Mira (Vanderbilt) def. Escribens/Kapitany (Purdue) 8-4
(3)Antal/Casares (Vanderbilt) def. Chadwell/Nurik (Chattanooga) 8-2
(1)Boren/Szeleky (Tennessee) def. Altick/Sellyn (Vanderbilt) 8-2
Round of 32 Doubles:
(3)Antal/Casares (Vanderbilt) def. Lee/Witte (Cincinnati) 8-3
(6)Colton/Mira (Vanderbilt) def. Moore/Wild (Ball State) 8-1
Altick/Sellyn (Vanderbilt) def. Blajketvitch/Morin-Kougoucheff (Kentucky) 8-5
