April 19, 2007
SEC Tournament Central Including Live Stats
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After receiving a first round bye, the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team will begin play at the Southeastern Conference tournament against No. 31 Kentucky Friday at 9 a.m. CT in Lexington, Ky.
The 15th-ranked Commodores (16-7, 9-2) faced the Wildcats (18-6, 6-5) during the regular season finale in Lexington, where VU took a 6-1 victory. The score was lopsided, but three of the six singles matches went to third sets and the doubles point was clinched in a tiebreaker.
In 2006, Vanderbilt defeated Kentucky 5-2 in regular season play, but fell
4-2 to the ‘Cats in the second round of the tournament. Kentucky advanced to the championship round before falling to the Florida Gators for the second consecutive season.
The doubles point may be a critical factor in what will likely be a close contest. The Commodores have only dropped one doubles point during SEC play. The lost point cost the ‘Dores the match against fourth-ranked Florida, who defeated Vanderbilt 4-3 in Nashville.
The Commodores have only dropped five doubles rounds through the season’s
23 matches, with three of those losses falling during the ITA Indoors tournament in early February.
The Wildcats have taken seven of 11 possible conference doubles points.
In singles, the Commodores have found consistency in the top half of the lineup. At No. 1, senior Amanda Fish finished with seven conference wins, while Amanda Taylor and Taka Bertrand each finished with 10-1 SEC marks at Nos. 2 and 4, respectively. Freshman Catherine Newman followed with a 9-2 record at No. 3.