NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 12 Vandy women’s tennis team began its ITA Kick-Off with a bang, conquering the No. 50 Harvard Crimson; 4-0.
“I thought we played with a lot of energy and intensity and beat a really solid Harvard team,” said head coach Geoff Macdonald. “The match was closer than what it looked like. There were some close matches still on. We won convincingly in three matches, but the others were really competitive.”
Vandy took home the doubles point after wins on courts one and two. No. 32 Sydney Campbell and Courtney Colton won in a 6-3 victory over Harvard’s June Lee and Monica Lin. Over on court two Ashleigh Antal and Marie Casares teamed up to defeat Sylvia Li and Ellen Jang-Milsten; 6-2.
The Commodores success continued on in singles with victories from No. 1, 4, and 5 singles. Only allowing the Crimson to win as many as two games in the three finished matches, the Commodores were ready to get the job done and move on to championship play.
In her first home match of her senior campaign, Marie Casares finished out her competition on court four first with a victory over Annika Ringblom; 6-2, 6-0.
As the No. 5 singles player in the Commodores lineup, Astra Sharma rolled to a 6-0, 6-1 victory. The sophomore from Perth, Australia did not allow her opponent to take a single game until the score was 6-0, 4-0.
No. 15 Sydney Campbell rounded out the last of the three singles wins, going 6-1, 6-1 over June Lee on court No. 1.
While the Commodores secured excellent victories to win the overall match, there were hard battles still being fought on courts two and three.
Frances Altick demonstrated great resilience on her match against Monca Lin on court five. After being down 1-4 in her first set, the junior from Monroe, Louisiana flipped the switch, coming back to win the set 7-5.
“For everybody it’s the beginning of the season. In matches they’re not that tough yet, and that’s just from not playing. But it will come along, a lot of that was just rust.”
The Commodores will be back in action Sunday at 2:00 p.m. as they take either No. 22 Texas or No. 46 DePaul in the Championship match.
Match #1 10:00 a.m.
Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015
Currey Tennis Center
Doubles
(Finish; 2,1)1) #32 Sydney Campbell/Courtney Colton (Vandy) def. June Lee/Monica Li (Harvard); 6-32)Ashleigh Antal/Marie Casares (Vandy) def. Sylvia Le/Ellen Jang-Milsten (Harvard); 6-23) Frances Altick/Astra Sharma (Vandy) vs. Nikki Kallenberg/Annika Ringblom (Harvard); 5-3 unf.
Singles
(Finish; 4,5,1)1)Sydney Campbell (Vandy) def. June Lee (Harvard); 6-1, 6-12)Courtney Colton (Vandy) vs. Nikki Kallenburg (5-6, unf.)3)Frances Altick (Vandy) vs. Monica Lin (Harvard); 7-5, 1-0, unf.4)Marie Casares (Vandy) def. Annika Ringblom (Harvard); 6-2, 6-05)Astra Sharma (Vandy) def. Ellen Jang-Milsten (Harvard); 6-0, 6-16) Georgina Sellyn (Vandy) vs. Amanda Lin (Harvard); not started
