NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt women’s tennis split its April opening weekend with No. 16 Florida and Tennessee State Sunday.
Having dropped a close match to the Gators, the Commodores bounced back in the latter match, sweeping the visiting Tigers, 4-0, to improve to 12-7 on the season.
Against the Gators
- The Commodores opened the afternoon with a sweep on doubles Court 3 as MaryAnn Rompf and Dasha Kourkina teamed up for the 6-0 win over their opponents.
- The Gators eventually clinched the doubles point with wins on Court 1 and 2. Marcella Cruz and Holly Staff fought back hard on their court, knotting things up at 4-4 after falling to 4-1 early. They eventually dropped a 6-4 decision as Florida took the 1-0 lead into singles.
- Vanderbilt fell to 0-3 early in singles as Amy Stevens and Lee both dropped hard sets on their courts.
- The Gators clinched the match with a win on Court 4 as Cruz fought to a 4-6 finish in set one before dropping her second set, 6-1.
- Kourkina got the Dores on the board with a win in straight sets on Court 6, 6-4 and 6-2.
- The Gators grabbed the final two points on the afternoon as Yufei Long dropped a close two sets on Court 3 while Staff battled in three sets.
Against the Tigers
- The Dores jumped out to an early lead with a 6-0 win on Court 2 doubles as Rompf and Kourkina swept their second doubles set of the day.
- Cruz and Stevens rounded out the doubles portion with a 6-1 on Court 1 to complete the sweep.
- Stevens extended the Vanderbilt lead to 3-0 with a pair of 6-0 sweeps over her Tennessee State opponent.
- Kourkina clinched the final point of the match with a pair of 6-0 set wins of her own to give Vanderbilt the 4-0 win over inter-city foe Tennessee State.
Up Next
The Commodores conclude their road slate next weekend with a trip to in-state rival Tennessee and Georgia. The team first travels to Knoxville on Friday before heading to Athens, Georgia, on Sunday to conclude the weekend series.
