Chattanooga – The Commodores opened up the first day of the Ohio Valley ITA regional tournament on Thursday with round one of doubles play. All four Dore duos enjoyed a bye round in the first round, automatically advancing the pairs to the Round of 32.
In the Round of 32, No. 2 ranked pair Christina Rosca and Summer Dvorak battled against Lipscomb’s Buber/Brooks and owned the court in a dominating 8-1 win.
No. 5 seed Emma Kurtz and Carolyn Campana earned an 8-4 victory over Louisville’s Mally/Wong, advancing the duo to the Round of 16.
Joining Kurtz/Campana in the Round of 16, Commodore doubles tandem Emily Smith and Amanda Meyer earned their spot defeating Kyle/Reichenbach (Xavier) in an 8-4 victory.
Closing doubles play for the Dores, sophomore Lauren Gish paired with SEC rival Tennessee’s Kylie Duckworth. School rivalry aside, the duo came together in a dominant fashion to defeat Butler duo, Monesmith/Bertino in a fierce 8-1 win.
Gish led the Dores in singles play Thursday as the only Dore to take the court. Campana, Dvorak, Kurtz, Meyer, Rosca and Smith all had byes in round one of singles to automatically advance to the Round of 64.
Gish took on Northern Kentucky’s Taylor Culbertson opening up the first set with a 6-3 victory. Gish conquered the second set resulting in a straight-set victory for Gish; 6-3, 6-4.
Head coach Geoff Macdonald said he is very proud of the way the sophomore handled the courts today. “Lauren played really great tennis today. She stepped up to the plate competing with Tennessee’s Duckworth, and the duo played very strong tennis together,” he said.
With all four Commodore doubles pairs advancing to day two of regionals, Macdonald said he is excited for what is to come in the rest of the tournament.
“Today was a strong opening day for us. To have all doubles pairs advancing to the Round of 32 is a big deal. I am proud of the way the team showed up and competed today,” said Macdonald.
The Commodores are back in action Friday with the Round of 64 and 32 of singles play followed by the Round of 32 in doubles.
Keep up with the Dores’ journey in Chattanooga by following @VandyWtennis on Twitter.
