TULSA, Okla. – Playing in her final collegiate dual match, Vanderbilt senior Taka Bertrand picked up a singles win for the Commodores but it wasn’t enough as No. 6 Florida won 4-1 in the NCAA Sweet 16 on Thursday night at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
“I commend Florida, they’re a really, really good team,” Vanderbilt head coach Geoff Macdonald said. “They’re a really strong doubles team. They compete really well in singles. There’s not a hole in the lineup. We fought hard and in a couple of places they just overmatched us. Hats off to them.”
Vanderbilt closes the season with a 20-6 record, while Florida advances on to the quarterfinals with a 23-2 record. The Gators advance to face Georgia Tech in the next round.
Florida jumped out to an early advantage by winning the doubles point. The Gators took the early lead in doubles with a win at the third position. The team of Julia Cohen and Anastasia Revzina remained undefeated on the season, defeating Caroline Ferrell and Keilly Ulery 8-1.
Florida clinched the doubles point on court one. The eighth-ranked duo of Megan Alexander and Marrit Boonstra jumped ahead early 3-1 and never looked back to claim the match 8-4 over VU’s No. 21 Amanda Taylor and Courtney Ulery and win the first point of the match.
The doubles match between Vanderbilt’s Taka Bertrand and Catherine Newman and Florida’s Whitney Benik and Csilla Borsanyi was suspended once Florida clinched the doubles point with the Commodore duo leading 7-3.
Florida increased its lead to 2-0 with a win at No. 4 singles. Benik defeated No. 69 Courtney Ulery in straight sets 6-3, 6-4.
The Gators scored their third point of the match with a win on court six. No. 96 Revzina downed Ferrell 6-2, 6-3.
Vanderbilt scored its only point of the match with a win at the third singles position. No. 117 Bertrand closed out her splendid career with the Commodores with a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 116 Alexander. Bertrand leaves Vanderbilt with a 124-34 career singles record, giving her the most singles wins in school history.
“I’ve coached 20 years and I don’t know that I’ve coached anyone that competes as hard day in and day out as Taka (Bertrand) does,” Macdonald said.
Florida closed out the match with a win at court five. The match between Vanderbilt’s Keilly Ulery and Florida’s Boonstra was forced indoors due to a power surge, which caused two of the lights on the court to go out. Boonstra won the opening set 6-0, and captured the second set 6-2.
The singles matches between No. 17 Taylor and No. 29 Cohen at the first position and No. 48 Newman and No. 33 Borsanyi at the second position were suspended once Florida clinched the match. Cohen led Taylor 6-3, 3-2 on court one, while Borsanyi was in front of Newman 7-6 (4), 0-1 on the court two.
The loss to Florida closes the dual match playing career of the three Vanderbilt seniors, Taka Bertrand, Caroline Ferrell and Amanda Taylor. Taylor will remain in Tulsa to compete in both the singles and doubles championships. Newman will also be competing in the singles championships while Courtney Ulery will partner with Taylor in the doubles championships.
“This is the hard part,” Macdonald said. “What a great trio. They’ve accomplished so much. They’ve been a great class. They’ve been through a lot. They’ve had some great jubilant wins and some heartbreaking losses.”
Thursday’s Results:
No. 6 Florida 4 def. No. 11 Vanderbilt 1
Doubles:
1. Megan Alexander/Marrit Boonstra (UF) def. Amanda Taylor/Courtney Ulery (VU) – 8-4
2. Taka Bertrand/Catherine Newman (VU) vs. Whitney Benik/Csilla Borsanyi (UF) – DNF (VU lead 7-3)
3. Julia Cohen/Anastasia Revzina (UF) def. Caroline Ferrell/Keilly Ulery (VU) – 8-1
Order of Finish: 3, 1
Singles:
1. No. 17 Amanda Taylor (VU) vs. No. 29 Julia Cohen (UF) – DNF (UF led 6-3, 3-2)
2. No. 33 Csilla Borsanyi (UF) vs. No. 48 Catherine Newman (VU) – DNF (UF led 7-6 (4), 0-1)
3. No. 117 Taka Bertrand (VU) def. No. 116 Megan Alexander (UF) – 6-3, 6-1
4. Whitney Benik (UF) def. No. 69 Courtney Ulery (VU) – 6-3, 6-4
5. Marrit Boonstra (UF) def. Keilly Ulery (VU) – 6-0, 6-2
6. No. 96 Anastasia Revzina (UF) def. Caroline Ferrell (VU) 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish: 4, 6, 3, 5
Updated Team Records: Vanderbilt (20-6); Florida (23-2)
