NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After Miami pulled off an upset the previous day against a fellow SEC opponent, No. 15 Vanderbilt handled the Hurricanes Saturday at the Currey Tennis Center in earning a 5-2 victory.
The win moves Vanderbilt to 4-0 on the season and marks the first victory over power five competition. Before Saturday’s match, Miami (2-1) upset No. 23 Ole Miss Friday afternoon in Music City.
“This is a great early season team win for us,” Vanderbilt head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said. “Miami is well coached and a tough team and we went out and played extremely hard on every court. I was really proud of the way we went after them from the start.
“Doubles was huge for us. We got off to great starts all around, played aggressive doubles and held onto leads that we had to keep momentum. In singles, we knew Miami would regroup but we started really well. Holly Staff and Anna Ross jumping out to big leads was key but Christina Rosca digging herself out of a hole and Emma Kurtz going back and forth with a really strong player at one was big to keep the momentum. We defended well all day and to beat a team that’s as good as Miami you have to do that. We were strong across all nine positions and I’m proud of our team for this big nonconference win.”
Vandy’s No. 1 and 2 doubles duos stole the show Saturday morning in helping the Dores go up 1-0 early. Before even blinking, Marcella Cruz and Kurtz were up 4-1 at No. 2 on the way to a 6-2 victory in just 33 minutes. Following shortly after, Ross and Staff polished off a 6-1 win at No. 1 to give Vanderbilt the 1-0 lead.
Ross and Staff close out the doubles point, we lead Miami 1-0.
1. Ross/Staff ✅ 6-1
2. Kurtz/Cruz ✅ 6-2
3. Lee/Rosca ↔️ 4-4 (uf.) pic.twitter.com/VvEUu6hoNv— Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis (@VandyWTennis) January 30, 2021
In singles, the No. 1 doubles duo shined on their own as well with Ross taking a smooth 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 87 Daevenia Achong at No. 2. Staff then followed Ross with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 4 over Florencia Urrutia to make it a 3-0 lead.
While Miami took its first point of the day with Estela Perez-Somarriba – the nation’s second-ranked player in the Oracle/ITA rankings – winning at No. 1, the Commodores went on to clinch the victory with No. 20 Rosca earning a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 3. The triumph required Rosca to answer an early 3-0 deficit in the first set with the fifth-year senior closing the match taking 12 of the next 15 games.
Finishing out the day, Cruz dominated at No. 6 with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Diana Khodan. Cruz has yet to drop more than two games in a singles set this season.
Cruz completes a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory to polish off a strong day of work against @CanesWTennis. #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/WVPzsWYKsq
— Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis (@VandyWTennis) January 30, 2021
Heading into the latter portion of its nonconference slate, Vanderbilt will welcome Lipscomb and ETSU to Currey Tennis Center on Feb. 6 and 7, respectively, looking to keep its perfect start to the campaign intact.
Results
Doubles
1. Anna Ross/Holly Staff (Vandy) def. Estela Perez-Somarriba/Florencia Urrutia (Miami) 6-1
2. Marcella Cruz/Emma Kurtz (Vandy) def. Diana Khodan/Maya Tahan (Miami) 6-2
3. Christina Rosca/Anessa Lee (Vandy) vs. Daevenia Achong/Isabella Pfennig (Miami) 4-4, unfinished
Singles
1. (2) Estela Perez-Somarriba (Miami) def. Emma Kurtz (Vandy) 6-3, 6-1
2. Anna Ross (Vandy) def. (87) Daevenia Achong (Miami) 6-2, 6-3
3. (20) Christina Rosca (Vandy) def. Maya Tahan (Miami) 6-4, 6-2
4. Holly Staff (Vandy) def. Florencia Urrutia (Miami) 6-3, 6-3
5. Isabella Pfennig (Miami) def. Anessa Lee (Vandy) 7-5, 7-6 (2)
6. Marcella Cruz (Vandy) def. Diana Khodan (Miami) 6-1, 6-0
Order of Finish
Doubles
2, 1
Singles
2, 4, 1, 3, 5, 6
Records
Miami: 2-1
(15) Vanderbilt: 4-0
