AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 12 Vanderbilt (18-4, 7-4 SEC) women’s tennis team won a hard-fought doubles point and quickly won three singles matches to defeat No. 24 Tennessee (14-9, 5-6 SEC) 4-0 on Friday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The Commodores advance to face Florida in tomorrow’s semifinal round at 2 p.m.
“The doubles point was really close and we were fortunate to get that,” Vanderbilt women’s tennis head coach Geoff Macdonald said. “Tennessee has some injuries they are dealing with. They are always a great team. After we got the doubles point and got the default at No. 6 singles, we won pretty easily, which is rare for a Vanderbilt-Tennessee match.”
Vanderbilt took an early advantage in the match, winning a closely-contested doubles point. Tennessee took the early edge as the team of Rosalia Alda and Ghizela Schutte defeated Caroline Ferrell and Catherine Newman 8-4 at No. 2 doubles.
Vanderbilt evened the doubles point at the No. 1 position as the 29th-ranked tandem of Amanda Taylor and Courtney Ulery defeated No. 13 Zsofia Zubor and Caitlin Whoriskey 9-7.
The doubles point came down to a tiebreaker at the No. 3 position. Taka Bertrand and Keilly Ulery defeated Jennifer Meredith and Connor Vogel 7-0 in the tiebreaker to win the match 9-8 and clinch the doubles point for the Commodores.
Vanderbilt extended its lead to 2-0 when Ferrell won by default at No. 6 singles.
No. 23 Taylor quickly extended Vanderbilt’s lead to 3-0 with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Schutte. The win improves Taylor’s dual match record to 18-4.
“It was nice to get the win today,” Taylor said. “We know how good Tennessee is as a team. I feel like we prepared really efficiently and everyone was ready to go. It feels good to move into the semifinals.”
Vanderbilt clinched the match and advanced to the semifinals with No. 118 Bertrand’s win at No. 3 singles. The Vanderbilt senior did not drop a game in the opening set, winning 6-0. She closed out the match with a 6-1 victory in the second set.
“I think it was good that we got the match over quickly,” Bertrand said. “We were fortunate to go into singles up 2-0. I think we have to get ready to play Florida and rest up. We’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
After Vanderbilt clinched the match, the singles matches at the second, fourth and fifth positions were suspended.
Tennessee still leads the overall series against Vanderbilt 28-19, but the Commodores have won five straight matches against the Lady Vols.
Vanderbilt returns to the courts tomorrow against No. 5 Florida in the semifinal round. Opening serve is set for 2 p.m. (CT).
Friday’s Results:
No. 12 Vanderbilt 4 def. No. 24 Tennessee 0
Doubles:
1. No. 29 Amanda Taylor/Courtney Ulery (VU) def. No. 13 Zsofia Zubor/Caitlin Whoriskey (UT) – 9-7
2. Rosalia Alda/Ghizella Schutte (UT) def. Caroline Ferrell/Catherine Newman (VU) – 8-4
3. Taka Bertrand/Keilly Ulery (VU) def. Jennifer Meredith/Connor Vogel (UT) – 9-8 (0)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles:
1. No. 23 Amanda Taylor (VU) def. Ghizela Schutte (UT) – 6-0, 6-0
2. No. 46 Catherine Newman (VU) vs. Samantha Orlin (UT) – 6-1, 1-2 (unfinished)
3. No. 118 Taka Bertrand (VU) def. Zsofia Zubor (UT) – 6-0, 6-1
4. No. 62 Courtney Ulery (VU) vs. Connor Vogel (UT) – 6-1, 1-3 (unfinished)
5. Rosalia Alda (UT) vs. Keilly Ulery (VU) – 5-4 (unfinished)
6. Caroline Ferrell (VU) won by default
Order of Finish: 6, 1, 3
Updated Team Records: Vanderbilt (18-4, 7-4 SEC); Tennessee (14-9, 5-6 SEC)
