NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 13 Vanderbilt Commodores (6-4, 1-0) began conference play Friday afternoon on the right foot, defeating the No. 63 Mississippi State Bulldogs 4-3. Still feeding off last weekend’s defeat of No. 6 Baylor, the Commodores put on a show in the Currey Tennis Center demonstrating high-energy and emotional tennis.
“Today’s match was a show that if you want to beat us, you’re going to have to really come after us,” said head coach Geoff Macdonald. It was a huge win. They (Mississippi State) are better than their ranking. We faced some adversity, and we’re thrilled that we overcame it.”
However the `Dores’ victory did not come without its share of struggles as Vanderbilt fell on courts two and three in doubles. Mississippi State fielded three duos that were quick at the net, displayed nice shot selections, and made good use of the entire court.
For the first time since tournament season Courtney Colton and Payton Robinette came together in tandems playing at the No. 3 spot. Although a close battle, the duo came up just shy of the victory as the Bulldog’s Timea Guibe and Louise Ronaldson won; 8-6.
On court two Frances Altick Marie Casares came up empty without the win, but it was not without a great effort and a sense of relentlessness. MSU clinched the doubles point with an impressive 8-6 win by Naomi Tran and Martina Frantova.
The Commodores had not lost their SEC opener in four years, and the team looked intently to singles play to keep the streak alive. With the VU lineup was shuffled, the `Dores knew taking the win would be no easy feat.
But the Commodores were prepared for adversity, having gone through tough losses earlier in the season. The battled hardened team buckled down and delivered four straight wins to seal the SEC victory.
Ashleigh Antal powered through her entire match on court four only giving up three games in her 6-2, 6-1 victory over Louise Ronaldson.
At No. 3 singles Martina Frantova put up a great fight, but No. 123 Frances Altick used her double loss as motivation and refused to fall to the Bulldog for a second time. Altick took the first set, 6-4. After dropping the first game of the second set the junior went on a five-game win streak and sealed the win; 6-2.
In her SEC debut No. 98 Astra Sharma came out on fire as she premiered in the No. 1 spot of the Commodore lineup. Injured for most of her freshman campaign, the sophomore played with great confidence defeating No. 75 Georgina Patrasc; 6-3, 7-5.
No. 103 Courtney Colton delivered Jasmine Lee her first loss of the year on court two. The junior clinched the first set 7-5, and powered through the second 6-1.
“That’s a really great Mississippi State team. I give them a lot of credit. They’re really good and I just thought our singles was superb. We played really tough and gritty tennis. I thought we competed at a very high level at every position.”
Although Vanderbilt won the battle, the match was played out with both No. 63 Marie Casares and Payton Robinette falling at No. 5 and six singles, respectively. Casares won her first set over Jennifer Brown 6-3, but lost in her second set tiebreaker 7-6(6). The senior coincidently lost her third set ten-point tiebreaker at 1-0(7).
This weekend’s SEC action is not over for the `Dores as the No. 15 Ole Miss Rebels (8-2) come to town Sunday at 1 p.m. The Rebels face the `Dores after falling on the road Friday night to the No. 25 Kentucky Wildcats; 4-2.
Results; Vanderbilt 4, Mississippi State 3
Doubles:
1. No. 33 Ashleigh Antal/Astra Sharma (VU) led. Georgina Patrasc/Jasmine Lee (MSU); 7-6
2. Naomi Tran/Martina Frantova (MSU) def. Frances Altick/Marie Casares (VU); 8-6
3. Timea Guibe/Louise Ronaldson (MSU) def. Courney Colton, Payton Robinette (VU); 8-6
Order of Finish; 3,2
Singles:
1. No. 98 Astra Sharma (VU) def. No. 75 Georgina Patrasc (MSU); 6-3, 7-5
2. No. 103 Courtney Colton (VU) def. Jasmine Lee (MSU); 7-5, 6-1
3.No. 123 Frances Altick (VU) def. Martina Frantova (MSU); 7-5, 6-2
4. Ashleigh Antal (VU) def. Louise Ronaldson (MSU); 6-2, 6-1
5. Jennifer Brown (MSU) def. No. 63 Marie Casares (VU); 3-6, 7-6(6), 1-0(7)
6.Timea Guibe (MSU) def. Payton Robinette (VU); 6-0, 6-0
Order of Finish; 4, 3, 1, 2, 5, 6
