Women's tennis team awarded 2018 Tolbert Cup

NASHVILLE – The Vanderbilt women’s tennis program has been recognized as the school’s 2018 Tolbert Cup recipient, Athletics Director David Williams announced.

The Commodores’ women’s tennis program received the Tolbert Cup for the third time with a ceremony during the first quarter of Vanderbilt football’s home matchup with Tennessee State. The Tolbert Cup, named for former track & field athlete Ryan Tolbert, is among the highest honors given by the Vanderbilt athletics department and is awarded to the team that exhibits the best combination of outstanding community service, athletic performance and academic achievement.
                
Vanderbilt women’s tennis dominated the 2017-18 season, repeating as SEC regular-season and tournament champions and finishing as the NCAA runner-up after a close loss to Stanford. The Commodores finished 12-1 in SEC play with an overall record of 27 wins. They shut out 12 of opponents, holding them to without a single point in match play. Vanderbilt ended the season with its fourth straight berth in the Final Four.
 
Junior Fernanda Contreras and senior Astra Sharma both earned All-America honors in doubles and singles play. Along with Contreras and Sharma, Christina Rosca, Summer Dvorak and Amanda Meyer garnered All-SEC recognition. Head coach Geoff Macdonald likewise earned SEC Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his career.
 
Off the court, the Commodores excelled in other areas, collecting more than 100 hours of community service and earning a cumulative team GPA of 3.626. Women’s tennis student-athletes shined on the SEC Academic Honor Roll, and seven Commodores earned spots on Vanderbilt’s Dean’s List: Fernanda Contreras, Summer Dvorak, Lauren Gish, Emma Kurtz, Amanda Meyer, Payton Robinette and Christina Rosca.
 
The Tolbert Cup’s namesake, Ryan Tolbert, was Vanderbilt’s first individual NCAA champion in any sport and remains one of the most decorated Commodores in history. She holds nine Vanderbilt records and was a five-time All-American on West End. Tolbert was the first Vanderbilt runner to compete at the World Championships and earned the title of Vanderbilt’s Female Athlete of the Year that season.