|
No. 5 Dores Upset No. 2 Kentucky 4-3 4/16/2005 The No. 5 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team captured the doubles point and three singles matches en route to a remarkable, 4-3 triumph over No. 2 Kentucky in Lexington on Saturday. “It was an unbelievable match,” said Vanderbilt Head Coach Geoff Macdonald. “We basically won a few very close matches and we competed really well today. This is the second top four opponent we have beaten in the last six days and that’s not too shabby. We won this thing by a whisker, but we will take it.” The win against the No. 2 Cats comes on the heels of the Dores victory over No. 4 Georgia a week ago, and moves the Dores to 9-2 in conference play. “Its huge,” said VU Assistant Coach Meike Babel. “It’s just unbelievable. The girls just played really well today in front of a large Kentucky crowd.” The Commodores captured the doubles point on the strength of wins at both the No. 1 and 2 positions. At the second slot, VU’s No. 55 tandem of Taka Bertrand and Amanda Fish dropped UK’s No. 14 duo of Kim Coventry and Joelle Schwenk, 8-5. The “W” improves the Bertrand and Fish’s record to 18-5. VU sealed the deal at the top slot, where Audra Falk and Amanda Taylor battled from behind to take a 9-8 (5) thriller over Kentucky’s No. 7 combination of Sarah Foster and Aibika Kalsareiva. VU’s Fish completed her perfect run through the SEC with her 6-2, 6-0 showing over UK’s No. 33 Kim Coventry. Vanderbilt’s No. 39 runs her SEC singles record to a perfect, 11-0 on the season. UK countered to knot the showdown at 2-2 with wins at both Nos. 1 and 6. At No. 6, Kentucky cut the Dores lead in half with their straight-set win at the sixth slot. UK’s Danielle Patrisko defeated VU’s Caroline Ferrell, 6-1, 6-2. UK’s fifth ranked Kalsareiva outlasted VU’s 11th ranked Falk at the first slot, 6-3, 6-4. The Wildcats stole a brief, 3-2 lead with their win at No. 5, but the Dores countered with Taylor’s straight set victory at the fourth spot. Taylor outmatched UK’s Schwenk, 6-4, 7-6 to even the match at 3-3. The showdown between the Cats and Dores came down the matchup at No. 3. The contest showcased UK’s No. 50 Foster and VU freshman and No. 60 Bertand. The VU rookie outlasted her Wildcat opponent in the first frame, 7-5, but Foster rebounded to take the second stanza for the Cats, 6-2. Foster led 5-4 in the final set, but Bertrand held and then broke the Wildcat serve to take a 6-5 advantage. VU’s rookie held serve in the final game to take a 7-5 victory and a tremendous win on the road for the Commodores. “Taka was down against a really good player,” said Macdonald. “She just toughed it out. It was incredible. It truly was a great, great win.” The win over the Wildcats wraps up the 2005 regular season for Coach Geoff Macdonald’s crew. The SEC Tournament begins Thursday and runs through Sunday in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Check back for the Commodores next opponent as soon as the bracket is released. Doubles |
