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Vanderbilt Coasts Against IUPUI in NCAA First Round Action 5/15/2004 Commodores will play #17-32 Florida State at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday for NCAA Sweet 16 berth NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The third-seeded Vanderbilt Commodores (23-3) needed just one hour and 39 minutes to advance to the second round of the NCAA Women’s Tennis Championship with a commanding 4-0 victory over the Mid-Continent Conference champion IUPUI Jaguars. The Black and Gold will meet #17-32 seeded Florida State (18-7) at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 16, at the Brownlee O’Currey, Jr., Tennis Center. The Seminoles outlasted #33-48-seeded Marshall, 4-2, in Saturday’s opening match. Vanderbilt set the tone of the contest from the beginning as the three Black and Gold duos made quick work of their IUPUI doubles foes by identical 8-0 scores. Juniors Audra Falk (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Annie Menees (St. Louis, Mo.) were the first to complete play by routing Brookley Crews and Emily Dukeman at the #2 slot. They were followed closely by the nation’s second-ranked doubles pairing, VU seniors Aleke Tsoubanos (Chesterfield, Mo.) and Kelly Schmandt (Santa Barbara, Calif.), who clinched the doubles point for the Commodores with a win at #1 against Mallory Stemle and Michelle Cunningham. Sophomore Ashley Schellhas and freshman Amanda Fish (Scituate, Mass.) led their contest 7-0 and were up 30-0 over Madison Reasoner and Amanda Valse when the doubles point was officially decided, but the referee allowed them to complete their match. The ‘Dores took a 3-0 lead after Menees took just 32 minutes to down IUPUI’s Reasoner at #6 singles (6-0, 6-0), while Falk, playing in the top singles position and ranked #14 in the country, utilized only 47 minutes to post a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Crews. Schellhas, an Edina, Minn., native, polished off the first round victory for the Black and Gold by registering a commanding 6-0, 6-1 victory over Valse at the number five spot. Schmandt (6-1, 4-1), Tsoubanos (6-0, 3-0) and Fish (6-1, 5-0) were all in firm control of their matches when they were suspended as IUPUI managed to take a total of only five games counting both the doubles and singles contests. The victory gives Vanderbilt its ninth-consecutive NCAA First Round triumph and the 4-0 win marks the eighth-straight season in which the Black and Gold have posted an opening round shutout in NCAA Tournament play. Admission is free to tomorrow’s NCAA Second Round matchup. #3 Vanderbilt vs. #49-64 IUPUI, 4-0 Doubles Singles |
