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Women’s Tennis Finishes Indoors with Win 2/5/2005
Women’s Tennis Finishes Indoors with Win The No. 6 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team got back in the win column Saturday, edging No. 15 North Carolina 4-3 at the ITA National Team Indoors. In the doubles draw, the top VU pairing of Audra Falk and Annie Menees suffered their second defeat in as many days as the senior duo fell to the No. 15 Tar Heel pairing of Aniela Mojzis and Kendall Cline. Coach Geoff Macdonald would need another huge victory out of his freshman combination of Amanda Taylor and Caroline Farrell. The combo would not disappoint. Taylor and Ferrell took the match at the No. 3 position, 8-4, improving to an impressive 6-1 in the spring. Once again, all eyes set their sights on the battle at No. 2. Vanderbilt featured its No. 20 pairing of Taka Bertrand and Amanda Fish while UNC countered with Sara Anundsen and Jenna Long. The match was neck and neck, but the Tar Heels prevailed, edging the Dores 8-6 to clinch the doubles point. The Commodores refocused and hit the singles draw needing four wins to take the match. VU’s Falk would give Vanderbilt their first “W”, flexing her muscle at the No. 1 singles position, where she picked apart North Carolina’s No. 26 Mojzis in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. UNC’s No. 37 Cline would come back to break the 1-1 tie, downing Vanderbilt’s Amanda Fish with a 6-1, 6-3 victory. The Dores struck back quickly at the No. 3 position, where freshman sensation Taka Bertrand cruised past UNC’s Anundsen, 6-3, 6-1, knotting the match at two wins apiece. The Commodores would not trail again. Coach Macdonald’s squad garnered decisive wins at both the No. 4 and No. 5 positions, with victories from both Taylor and Menees. At No. 4, Taylor took a pair of hard fought sets from UNC’s Long, posting a 6-4, 6-4 triumph. The victory was the Commodore freshman’s sixth of her young career. Menees played perhaps her most impressive tennis of 2005, clinching the match while securing the Commodores sixth victory of the season. The Commodores senior was victorious in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. UNC would gain their third point of the day as Vanderbilt’s undefeated freshman Caroline Ferrell would have to retire soon after the first set. The Commodores return to the courts Feb. 19 when they return home to Nashville to take on Rice at the Currey Tennis Center. The action is set to commence at 10:00 a.m. Doubles Singles Women’s Tennis Falls to SEC Rival The No. 6 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team dropped its quarterfinal showdown with the No. 13 Georgia Bulldogs on Friday afternoon at the ITA National Team Indoors. The second round defeat at the hands of the No. 13 Bulldogs was the first defeat of 2005 for Head Coach Geoff Macdonald’s squad. Georgia took the match 4-1. The doubles point proved to be a hotly contested affair. At the No. 1 doubles position, Coach Jeff Wallace’s pairing of Shadisha Robinson and Natalie Frazier would upset the No. 35 VU pairing of Audra Falk and Annie Menees, 8-2. The previous day, the Bulldog pairing dethroned Northwestern’s top-ranked tandem of Audra Cohen and Cristelle Grier. The Commodore freshman combination of Caroline Ferrell and Amanda Taylor soon countered the Bulldog win at No. 1, taking the match at the No. 3 position by an 8-5 tally. With the win, the freshman duo pushed their doubles record to an impressive 5-1 mark on the season. With the match knotted at one apiece, all eyes were on the No. 2 position as the Commodores Amanda Fish and Taka Bertrand battled UGA’s Evgenia Subbotina and Kelley Hyndman. In the end, the Bulldogs would get the best of the No. 20 duo, taking the pro-set and the all-important doubles point, 8-5. The Commodores looked to turn the tables in the singles draw, sending out their No. 2, 4, and 6 singles to the courts first. The Bulldogs would strike first at the No. 2 singles position where UGA’s Frazier surrendered just four games to Fish, handing the Vanderbilt sophomore her first loss of the season, 6-3, 6-1. The Dawgs wrapped up their third point of the day at the No. 4 position, where VU’s Taylor fell to UGA’s Caroline Basu, 6-1, 7-6 (2). The lone Commodore triumph of the day came at the hands of unbeaten freshman Ferrell. The Vanderbilt rookie dropped the first set, but clawed her way back into contention, taking the second frame, 6-3. The decisive third set would prove to be a thriller, with Ferrell dropping her opponent 10-4 in the third set tiebreak. At the No. 1 position, VU’s Falk faced her stiffest test of the 2005 run in the nation’s tenth ranked player, Georgia’s Shadisha Robinson. Robinson would garner the first set, 6-3. In the second frame, Falk battled back, but Robinson edged the Dore senior 6-4 to take the match in straight sets. Robinson’s victory would clinch the match for the Bulldogs. Coach Macdonald’s Commodores will look to rebound Saturday as they take on North Carolina tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. in a consolation match. For more information on the ITA National Team Indoors including results from the first two days of action, click www.itatennis.com. Doubles Singles Commodores KO Badgers 7-0 in Round One The No. 6 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team dashed the hopes of host and No. 48 Wisconsin on Thursday morning in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoors. Coach Geoff Macdonald’s Dores blanked the Badgers, taking all seven matches to move into a second round SEC showdown with Georgia. The Bulldogs upset No. 4 Northwestern 5-2 in the morning round. The Commodore freshman tandem of Caroline Ferrell and Amanda Taylor were the first pair to exit the courts at the Nielson Tennis Stadium, dropping the UW twosome of Chelsea Nusslock and Lexi Goldin, 8-4 at No. 3 doubles. VU’s No. 35 doubles duo of senior standouts Audra Falk and Annie Menees would battle the No. 27 Wisconsin pairing of Lindsey Martin and Katie McGaffigan at the No. 1 doubles position. Falk and Menees stretched the lead to 7-2 before closing the door and clinching the all-important doubles point for Vanderbilt, 8-4. The Commodores also took the match at the No. 2 position, where the nationally ranked pair of Taka Bertrand and Amanda Fish remained perfect, outlasting Nicole Beck and Caitlin Burke of Wisconsin, 8-6. The No. 20 pair moves their spotless record to 5-0 in 2005. In singles play in Madison, the first, third, and fifth singles matches hit the courts first. VU’s Menees was the first player off the courts in the singles draw, dispatching of Wisconsin’s Nicole Beck in convincing fashion, 6-1, 6-0. The Commodore senior runs her career record to 17-6 at the No. 5 position. Vanderbilt pushed the lead to 3-0 with Bertrand’s triumph at the No. 3 position. With the win, the Commodore freshman pushed her 2005 mark to 4-1 in singles play. The Great Falls, Va. product downed UW’s Lindsey Martin, 6-2, 6-3. The No. 1 singles match featured two talents in the top-60. The showdown featured McGaffigan of the Badgers and Falk of the Commodores. McGaffigan would get the best of Falk in the first frame, but Falk would not be denied in the second, taking the set, 6-2. The two would battle it out in the third, with Falk prevailing 7-5 to land the Commodores their fourth point, clinching the opening round victory for the Dores. She took the match, 1-6, 6-2, 7-5. Fish, VU’s super sophomore would down her second nationally ranked player of the 2004 campaign, dismantling No. 99 Caitlin Burke in three sets. Like Falk, Fish dropped the first stanza, but stormed back to take the next two frames to win the contest, 1-6, 6-1, 6-1. At No. 4, Taylor would take her match in a third set super-tiebreaker marathon, prevailing 19-17. “It was a lot closer than 7-0. I’m just really pleased with our team,” said Macdonald. “We’re young and it was the first Indoors for three of our players and they just did great. Anytime you can win a match here it’s good. Playing (host) Wisconsin here is always a challenge. They are very good and we’re fortunate to win today.” Coach Macdonald’s crew returns to action tomorrow, when they take on SEC rival Georgia in the quarterfinals. The match is slated to get underway at 3:00 p.m. For more information as well as the full tournament draw, click www.itatennis.com. Doubles Order of finish: 3, 1*, 2 Singles Order of finish (singles): 5, 3, 1, 2, 4, 6 |
