GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team officially kicked off its fall tournament season Friday morning in the 30th annual Furman Fall Classic. The Commodores opened up tournament play going 4-2 in doubles contests and 4-1 in singles action.
Friday’s competition was not only the start to the fall season, but the beginning of three Commodore careers: Emma Kurtz, Christina Rosca and Emily Smith, who each went undefeated on the day, earning their first victories for the black and gold Friday morning in doubles play.
In doubles, two Commodore pairs will begin Saturday play in flight finals. Taking a pair of 8-5 victories, Astra Sharma/Rosca will face MSU’s Lee/Rioux in the “Division I” finals at 8 a.m. Saturday morning. Simultaneously, Smith/Kurtz will face Florida State’s Pizer/Baker in the “Division II” finals. Fernanda Contreras and Payton Robinette suffered back-to-back losses, but have a chance at redemption tomorrow against Clemson’s Miller-Krasilnikov/Moinard.
“We’re really pleased with the way we competed and fought throughout the first day,” said head coach Geoff Macdonald. “The first day here is tough, with two doubles matches and singles it’s a solid day of tennis. For the first tournament of the year, I was really pleased with everyone on the team.”
Following the day’s action, Macdonald was thrilled with how well his two freshmen student-athletes competed. Pulling out tough three-set victories in individual play, Rosca and Kurtz exemplified the fight the Vanderbilt squad is known for nationally.
After dropping her first set, 6-7(4), Rosca quickly recovered to earn her first career win over an SEC opponent. In the final two sets, the Princeton, N.J., native only allowed Mississippi State’s Lisa Marie Rioux three games to claim the 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-0 victory.
One of the youngest players in tournament contention, Kurtz took on Wake Forests’ polished redshirt-senior Samantha Asch. Asch, who picked up six victories in 2016 ACC play, took the first set over the ‘Dore, 6-3. An Atlanta native, Kurtz rallied to take down the Deacon, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Transfer Emily Smith also generated her first win with Vanderbilt, winning a first-set tiebreaker over Chandler Carter; 7-6(4). Smith was able to close out the match, 7-6(4), 7-5, and now will face Tennessee’s Ariadna Riley on Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. CT.
No. 20 Sharma downed Wake’s 47th-ranked Kimmy Guerin, 6-4, 6-2, for the first win of her redshirt-junior campaign. Contreras looks to face UT’s Eve Repic after a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Clemson’s Marie Leduc. Robinette was unable to begin singles play on Friday, but looks to take the court Saturday morning.
