NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt women’s tennis totaled eight wins on the second day of the June Stewart Invitational on Saturday at the Currey Tennis Center.
On another picturesque day in the Music City, the Commodores won five singles matches and followed that up with three doubles victories. Amy Stevens, Holly Staff, Aneesa Lee, Marcella Cruz and Anna Ross each won their singles matches, while Cruz/Lee, Ross/Staff and Dasha Kourkina/Stevens each won in doubles.
“It was a great day. Our singles were really, really high quality,” head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said. “We found ourselves in some split sets and managed to battle back which is always huge. To win the first (set) and lose the second, it’s important to be able to regroup, let go, start over and compete hard in the third set. It shows we have fighters trying to win matches. And we played some solid doubles where we were aggressive on most courts and pretty opportunistic.”
Stevens, Cruz and Ross each rebounded after dropping the second set for a trio of three-set wins. Stevens opened with a 6-4 set win before falling 6-3 and battling to win the decisive set, 6-3. Cruz took a similar path to victory after she opened with a win, dropped the second set and then held off her Iowa State opponent, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Ross was the last singles match to finish in a long battle with Miami’s Eden Richardson. Ross won 6-3 in the opening set, and then one just one game in the second set before a back-and-forth third set ended in a 6-6 tie. Ross was dominant in the tiebreaker with a 7-2 victory to claim the match.
“After losing that second set, Anna (Ross) regrouped, kept it close, and then had near-flawless tiebreaker against very, very good player. And Amy (Stevens) turned it around against a great player—she played a disciplined match, especially late, and I was happy she got good, quality win under her belt early.”
Staff and Lee both won in straight sets against their Miami counterparts. Staff lost just two games in each set, while Lee also won 12 of 16 games in a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
In doubles play, Cruz/Lee carried their momentum from singles wins with a 6-2 victory over Yeah/Heuser of Illinois. Meanwhile, Ross/Staff won by the same score against Frazier/Duong of Illinois, and Kourkina/Stevens knocked off Popova/Trbeznik, 6-3.
Competition resumes Sunday at 9 a.m. with singles play.
Fans can follow Vanderbilt women’s tennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @VandyWTennis.
Vanderbilt Results
Stevens (Vandy) def. Tahan (Miami), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
Staff (Vandy) def. Achong (Miami), 6-2, 6-2
Lee (Vandy) def. Popova (Lipscomb), 6-3, 6-1
Cruz (Vandy) def. Hsieh (ISU), 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Ross (Vandy) def. Richardson (Miami), 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (2)
Khodan (Miami) def. Kourkina (Vandy), 6-2, 6-3
Boch-Collins (Miami) def. Long (Vandy), 6-3, 7-5
Cruz/Lee (Vandy) def. Yeah/Heuser (Illinois), 6-2
#9 Ross/Staff (Vandy) def. Frazier/Duong (Illinois), 6-2
Kourkina/Stevens (Vandy) def. Popova/Trbeznik (Lipscomb), 6-3
Treiber/Ferrari (Illinois) def. Long/Rompf (Vandy), 6-0
Competition Schedule
Sunday
9 a.m. — Miami/ISU vs. Illinois singles
11 a.m. — Vanderbilt vs. Miami/Iowa State and Illinois vs. Kentucky doubles
Noon — Vanderbilt vs. Kentucky singles
