Sept. 17, 2017
Athens, Ga. Â- The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team walked away from its first event of the fall with tournament hardware, as three Commodores left Athens, Ga. unscathed from competition.
Tournament play was originally scheduled to be in Puerto Rico, however due to the recent hurricanes impacting the Caribbean, Clemson, Georgia, Missouri and Vanderbilt all traveled to Bulldog country to begin the tournament season. Individual results count for student-athletes, but no team score is kept throughout fall play.
In singles, Summer Dvorak was tournament tri-champion, as the junior and two Georgia student-athletes went undefeated on the weekend’s action. Sophomores Emma Kurtz and Christina Rosca teamed up in tandems, and earned the events doubles crown.
Unranked and matched against UGA’s No. 34 Elena Christofi and Morgan Coppoc, the Commodore duo outlasted the Bulldogs in a spirited 7-5 victory. The Dores’ lone ranked tandem, No. 17 Emily Smith and Fernanda Contreras, earned additional SEC experience as a team, picking up a 6-3 victory over Georgia’s Katarina Jokic and Laura Patterson. Payton Robinette and Lauren Gish downed Missouri’s Ellie Wright and Ally Noback, 6-4, while Amanda Meyer and Dvorak capped doubles play dropping a close competition to Annette Goulak and Vivian Wolff of UGA, 6-4.
VU went 6-1 on the final day of singles play. Dvorak, a native of Laguna Beach, Calif, earned a 6-2, 6-2 straight-set victory over Georgia’s Vivian Wolff to give the Commodore her second undefeated tournament showing. As a freshman Dvorak teamed up with Ellie Yates to go 3-0 in doubles at the 2015 Miami Fall Invitational.
All three of the Dores ranked student-athletes earned victories for the black and gold. No. 47 Rosca downed a ranked foe as the sophomore defeated No. 105 Marta Gonzales in straight-sets, 6-4, 6-1. No. 63 Contreras defeated Coppoc by pulling off a close second set, 6-1, 7-5, while No. 112 Kurtz won the team’s lone three-setter, 6-4, 1-6, 1-0(6), against Mizzou’s Mackenzy Middlebrooks.
The Commodores will be back on court next weekend, attending one of the team’s favorite tournaments, the Debbie Southern Fall Classic in Greenville, S.C.
Singles & Doubles Champions Based on record during tournament
Singles Tri-Champs: Elena Christofi (UGA), Katerina Jokic (UGA) & Summer Dvorak (VU)
Doubles Champ: Emma Kurtz/Christina Rosca (VU)
Day Three Results(School/ITA Ranking)
Emma Kurtz/Christina Rosca def. Elena Christofi/Morgan Coppoc (UGA/34) (VU) 7-5
Emily Smith/Fernanda Contreras (VU/17) def. Katarina Jokic/Laura Patterson (UGA) 6-3
Annette Goulak/Vivian Wolff (UGA) def. Amanda Meyer/Summer Dvorak (VU) 6-4
Payton Robinette/Lauren Gish (VU) def. Ellie Wright/Ally Noback (UM) 6-4
Christina Rosca (VU/47) def. Marta Gonzalez (UGA/105) 6-4,6-1
Fernanda Contreras (VU/63) def. Morgan Coppoc (UGA) 6-1,7-5
Summer Dvorak (VU) def. Vivian Wolff (UGA) 6-2,6-2
Lauren Gish (VU) def. Ally Miller-Krasilnikov (CU) 6-4,0-1 ret.
Emily Smith (VU) def. Clare Raley (UM) 6-4, 7-5
Emma Kurtz (VU/112) def. Mackenzy Middlebrooks (UM) 6-4,1-6,1-0(6)
Daniela Ruiz (CU) def. Payton Robinette (VU) 6-2,6-3