Feb. 12, 2016
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Following last weekend’s quarterfinal berth at National Team Indoors in Madison, Wis. the No. 5 women’s tennis team is back on the road this weekend, looking for wins against No 6 Ohio State and No. 25 Northwestern.
Vanderbilt (5-1) swept both then-No. 14 Duke and No. 7 Virginia last weekend, but fell to then-No. 16 Ohio State in a 4-3 heartbreaker. Following the conclusion of the tournament, the ITA released the ITA All-Tournament team, with redshirt sophomore Astra Sharma earning a spot as voted on by a panel of the 16 participating head coaches.
The Commodores will have their chance at redemption this Saturday against the Buckeyes, as the team travels to Columbus, Ohio for what is now an ITA top-10 matchup. Action begins at 11:00 am.
The Buckeyes (7-1) have two ranked singles players; with freshman Francesca Di Lorenzo leading the nation ranked No. 1. Junior Sandy Niehaus follows, ranked No. 118. In doubles, Anna Sanford and Miho Kowase will make up a tough battle on court one, as the squad comes in at No. 6 in the country.
OSU’s lone defeat of the year came from a 4-3 loss to Cal in ITA Indoor semifinals, owning wins over four teams who were then in the ITA top-25; Vanderbilt (1), Michigan (12), Pepperdine (19) and TCU (22).
Vandy takes on Northwestern this Sunday at 11:00 am CT for their second top-25 match of the weekend.
Northwestern entered the season on a high note, downing No. 27 Arizona State 4-2 during the ITA Kickoff weekend. Since then, the Wildcats have suffered three straight losses, all to ranked teams. Most recently, NU fell at UCLA 6-1 on Feb. 7th.
The Wildcats have one ranked player in the Oracle/ITA singles poll, with Maddie Lipp coming in at No. 51. VU will face two ranked tandems pairings against the Wildcats. Lipp and Alex Chatt team up at No. 9, and Alicia Barnett and Erin Larner enter Sunday’s match ranked No. 35.