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Vanderbilt Freshmen Come Up Big As The Dores Knock Off The Cavaliers, 5-2 1/16/2005 The No. 6 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team held serve on Sunday afternoon, as they took 5-of-7 matches from the talented No. 55 Virginia Cavaliers at the Currey Tennis Center. The action quickly heated up early on all three doubles courts. The No. 1 doubles position would feature two teams in the top 40 in the nation in the No. 23 Cavalier pairing of Douglas Wink and Diana Srebovic and the No. 35 senior Vanderbilt combination of Audra Falk and Annie Menees. Falk and Menees would see a 4-3 lead slip away as the Cavaliers would prove to be too much for the Commodores at the No. 1 position. The Dores would fall 8-6. Vanderbilt would counter the loss at the first position with a victory at the second. The nation’s 20th ranked tandem of Commodores Amanda Fish and Taka Bertrand would cruise to a decisive 8-2 tally, giving the Dores a shot at the doubles point if freshmen duo of Amanda Taylor and Caroline Ferrell could get the win at the third position. All eyes were on Taylor and Ferrell and they refused to disappoint, coming up with an intense, come-from-behind victory, 8-6, to give the Commodores the all-important doubles point. “It was great,” said Vanderbilt Head Coach Geoff Macdonald. “I wanted them to be in those tough situations and they executed beautifully under great pressure.” The Dores headed to singles with both the momentum and the lead. At the No. 1 position, two heavyweights matched up in Virginia’s No. 67 Diana Srebovic and VU’s No. 38 Audra Falk. Srebovic would take a hard-fought first frame, 6-4. In the second, Falk served for the set, but could not convert. The Cavalier ace went on to take the match in dramatic fashion, 6-4, 7-6. At the No. 5 position, Commodore freshman Amanda Taylor took the first set from UVA’s Rachel Del Priore, 6-3. Taylor would use her momentum to blank her opponent and cruise to a 6-3, 6-0 win, giving Coach Macdonald’s crew their second point of the day. “It felt really good,” said Taylor. “We put in a lot of hard work in the fall and I believe the spring is my chance to see if I can make it pay off.” Sophomore Amanda Fish and freshman Taka Bertrand would both rally from first set defeats to take the next two, giving the Dores their third and fourth point. Bertrand’s win would clinch the victory for the Commodores. Freshman Caroline Ferrell would also grab a win for the Dores at No. 6, taking out Virginia’s Lindsey Pereira in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4. “I was really pleased with our team. They did a great job of keeping calm and playing their game,” said Macdonald. “Virginia is a top 20 team. This is as good a team as Virginia has ever had and Diana Srebovic is a world-class player.” The Commodores return to action when they hit the road to face Michigan in Ann Arbor on January 22. Vanderbilt 5, Virginia 2 Doubles 1. Wink/Srebovic (UVA) def. Falk/Menees (VU) 8-6 Order: 2, 1, 3* Singles 1. Diana Srebovic (UVA) def. Audra Falk (VU) 6-4, 7-6 Order: 5, 2, 1, 3*, 6, 4 |
