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Bertrand Debuts at No. 1 Singles
1/14/2006
The Commodores downed the Michigan State Spartans 7-0 thanks in part to
sophomore Taka Bertrand, who held her opponent to one point in the No. 1
singles slot.
“It’s really just fabulous tennis,” Vanderbilt Head Coach Geoff Macdonald
said about Bertrand’s singles round. “She’s great to watch. When she gets
ahead she doesn’t let up. She just puts them to bed.”
Bertrand went 6-0. 6-1 to defeat MSU’s sophomore Christine Bader in
Bertrand’s first career appearance at No. 1 singles.
“I was nervous at first,” Bertrand said. “But once the match got started I
really got excited.”
Junior Amanda Fish also kept her opponent, sophomore Pascale Schnitzer, to
one point to win the contest 6-0, 6-1 in the No. 2 single slot.
The following singles victories for the Commodores came with a fight,
including a tiebreaker for sophomore Amanda Taylor.
Taylor dropped the first set to Spartan Jessica Baron, a junior out of
Miami, Fla. Taylor regrouped for the second on third sets and took the
victory with set outcomes of 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.
Many of the fans attending the match migrated to freshman Courtney Ulery’s
court to watch her two challenging sets against Sarah Andrews, a native of
Darwin Australia (7-5, 7-5) in No. 4 singles. Fellow freshman Maggie Yahner
breezed through her first set against freshman Stephan Kebler (6-0) but had
to fight Kebler’s retaliation in the second set (7-5).
“It was great for the freshman to battle through an international team.
Michigan State is very much improved. They were extremely solid though the
middle of the lineup,” Macdonald said.
The doubles round was a much smoother contest for the Commodore lineup. The
team finished with three proset wins in less than thirty-five minutes to
snag the doubles point.
The next match for the Commodores will be Sunday, January 29 when they host
Michigan at 9:30 am.
Vanderbilt v. Michigan State
Doubles
No. 1 Taka Bertrand/ Amanda Fish def. Christine Bader/ Sarah Andrews 8-1
No. 2 Amanda Taylor/ Maggie Yahner def. Marianne Eelens/Ana Milosavljevic 8-2
No. 3 Caroline Ferrell/ Courtney Ulery def. Stephanie Kebler/ Jessica Baron 8-2
Singles
No. 1 Bertrand — 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 Fish 6-0, 6-1
No. 3 Taylor 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 Ulery 7-5, 7-5
No. 5 Yahner 6-0, 7-5
No. 6 Sveke 6-0, 6-1
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