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3/29/2006 No. 11 Commodores Snap No. 2 Irish 16-0 Streak NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 11 Commodores defeated No. 2 Notre Dame 4-3, becoming the first team to defeat the Irish this season. The Commodores (16-2, 6-0) were forced to rally during singles after the Irish (16-1) swept the doubles competition. Following Commodore freshmen tandem Courtney Ulery and Liberty Sveke’s loss at No. 3, Caroline Ferrell and Taka Bertrand tied their proset at 7-7, but the Irish avoided the tiebreaker when Brook Buck and Kelcy Tefft clinched the point 9-7. Despite the loss, the ‘Dores seemed unscathed going into next phase of the match. Amanda Fish and Taka Bertrand downed the Irish Thompson twins at the top singles spots, each playing extremely aggressively and taking every opportunity to crush the ball. Amanda Fish took the win 6-2, 6-2 against Catrina Thompson, while Taka pulled out a 6-2, 6-3 when against Christian Thompson. “Not getting down after loosing the doubles point was huge.” VU Head Coach Geoff Macdonald said. “We had to understand that if you keep on persevering and playing tough, a tennis match can turn your way.” Amanda Fish’s win tied the match at 2-2, and was followed by a loss from Caroline Ferrell (6-2, 6-1) and a straight set win from Courtney Ulery (6-3, 6-3) which tied the match while Amanda Taylor battled Brook Buck at No. 3. Taylor stayed strong through the first set that included long points and a 13-11 tie breaker to take the set win 7-6. Taylor was up by two games in the second set, but Brook rallied to force Taylor into another tiebreaker. “I’d been having a rough couple of matches. I was thinking about all the extra work I’d put in over the past couple of weeks, and to apply what I learned,” Taylor said. “My overall game more was more solid. I just tried to challenge myself instead of getting overwhelmed.” Taylor was able to beat out Brook in baseline play and won the tiebreaker 7-4 to clinch the upset for the Commodores. “It’s an unusual move to play such a top non-conference team in conference season. I just wanted us to get better and you only get better playing really tough teams,” Macdonald said. The Commodores will return to conference play in-state rival UT and Georgia this weekend at the Currey Tennis Center. RESULTS |