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Commodore Women’s Tennis Team Beats Kentucky 5-2 4/11/2004 VU Achieves Eighth Straight 20-Win Campaign NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The third-ranked Vanderbilt women’s tennis team matched their best Southeastern Conference record ever Saturday with a 5-2 rvictory over No. 21 Kentucky at the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center. It marked the regular season finale for both teams. The Commodores earned an early 3-0 advantage, then sealed the match when No. 1 singles player Audra Falk withstood a second set rally by Kentucky’s Ailbika Kalsarieva to win 6-4, 7-5. Vanderbilt concludes the regular season 20-2 overall, 9-1 in the SEC. The Commodores will return to action next weekend, playing host to the SEC Championships. Vanderbilt raced to an early lead on the strength of solid doubles play. The Commodores’ twosome of Falk and Annie Menees got the early advantage, defeating the Wildcats’ Lara Maurer and Kim Coventry 8-4. Vanderbilt captured the doubles point when Ashley Schellhas and Amanda Fish defeated Joelle Schwenk and Christine Simpson 8-4. Tsoubanos, playing in the final regular season match of her Commodore career, put Vanderbilt up 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Maurer, Kentucky’s No. 3 singles player. Fish increased the team vantage to 3-0 with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Schwenk, her No. 4 singles counterpart. After Kentucky’s Sarah Foster gave the Wildcats their first point by winning the No. 2 singles match, Falk won her eight consecutive singles match with a hard-fought 6-4, 7-5 victory over Kalsarieva, Kentucky’s No. 1 singles player. Falk’s victory proved the decisive point in Vanderbilt’s team win. The Commodores reached 20 wins for an eighth consecutive season. It is the team’s ninth 20-win campaign in Coach Geoff Macdonald’s 10-year tenure with the squad. Vanderbilt returns to action in the SEC Championships, with first round action starting this Thursday morning at the Currey Tennis Center. The SEC tournament will feature three of the top five teams in women’s tennis. Doubles Singles |
