Oct. 13, 2017
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team enjoyed a successful day on Friday during the second day of play in the ITA Ohio Valley Regional.
The Commodores went undefeated throughout one round of main draw of doubles play. The draw’s second-seeded team of Emma Kurtz and Emily Smith picked up an 8-2 victory over Memphis’ Cao/Sullivan, while fourth-seeded Amanda Meyer and Summer Dvorak pulled off a tiebreak victory against Western Kentucky’s ninth-seeded Ito/Malinen, 8-7(4). Both Commodore pairs will face teams from in-state rival Tennessee in Saturday’s action.
In main draw singles, three Vandy student-athletes remain in tournament contention. Third-seeded Kurtz, fourth-seeded Meyer and sixth-seeded Dvorak will all compete in quarterfinal play.
Ranked No. 112, Kurtz walked away from the day with back-to-back straight set victories, downing Araiana Rodriguez of Louisville, 6-1, 6-4 and overpowering WKU’s Ito 6-2, 6-1. Meyer, a freshman out of Delray Beach, Fla., limited Tennessee State’s Aarushi Kakkar to one game, 6-0, 6-1, and sealed her place in the regional quarterfinals with a win over the Boilermakers’ Alex Sabe, 6-3, 6-4. Dvorak earned a swift 6-2, 6-2 win against Wright State’s Madison Riley and closed out her day with a three-set victory against Louisville’s Tiffany Huber, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Three Commodores suffered losses on the day. Smith fell in the round of 16 to Purdue’s Ena Babic, 6-3, 6-0. Freshman Lauren Gish suffered a hard-fought 6-2, 7-6(9) loss to Tennessee’s Gabby Shuck, while Payton Robinette fell to Miami of Ohio’s Melati Devi in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.
Vanderbilt continues play from Middle Tennessee’s Adams Tennis Complex on Saturday morning. Admission is free to all fans