NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The ninth-ranked Vanderbilt women’s tennis team improved to 10-3 on the season with an impressive 7-0 sweep of No. 65 Furman (8-5) on Thursday afternoon at the Currey Tennis Center. The Commodores also stayed perfect in non-SEC matches, improving to 9-0.
“Today was a great victory for us,” Vanderbilt women’s tennis head coach Geoff Macdonald said. “Furman is a really good team. We competed really hard and I’m happy with our play today.”
Vanderbilt took the early advantage, quickly grabbing the doubles point. Taka Bertrand and Keilly Ulery won all eight games in their doubles match over Jessica Preeg and Monica Arguello at the third doubles position. Catherine Newman and Caroline Ferrell also did not gave up a game in their 8-0 victory over Lauren Osborne and Christina Swindall at No. 2 doubles. Amanda Taylor and Courtney Ulery dropped their match at No. 1 doubles, falling 8-5 to Laura Gioia and Natasa Manojlovic.
The Commodores continued their solid play in singles. Keilly Ulery picked up the first singes win for the Black and Gold with a 6-1, 6-1 thrashing of Lauren Tomory at No. 5 singles. No. 51 Courtney Ulery quickly followed with the third point of the day for the `Dores with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Preeg at No. 4 singles.
Caroline Ferrell clinched the match for the Commodores with a 6-1, 6-4 win at the sixth singles position over Manojlovic.
On Court 1, No. 35 Taylor notched the fifth point for Vanderbilt with a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 93 Gioia. No. 37 Newman improved to 10-3 in dual matches with a 6-1, 6-3 win over No. 108 Arguello at No. 2 singles.
Bertrand closed out the sweep with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Osborne at the third singles position. The win improves Bertrand’s career singles record to 113-33. She is just two wins shy of breaking Julie Ditty’s record of 114 career singles wins.
The Commodores now lead the overall series against Furman 6-2.
Vanderbilt returns to action tomorrow against No. 41 Florida International. First serve at the Currey Tennis Center is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. (CT). Live stats and a complete recap of the match will be available on vucommodores.com.
Thursday’s Results:
No. 9 Vanderbilt 7 def. No. 65 Furman 0
Doubles:
1. Laura Gioia/Natasa Manojlovic (FU) def. Amanda Taylor/Courtney Ulery (VU) – 8-5
2. Caroline Ferrell/Catherine Newman (VU) def. Lauren Osborne/Christina Swindall (FU) – 8-0
3. Taka Bertrand/Keilly Ulery (VU) def. Jessica Preeg/Monica Arguello (FU) – 8-0
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles:
1. No. 35 Amanda Taylor (VU) def. No. 93 Laura Gioia (FU) – 6-2, 6-2
2. No. 37 Catherine Newman (VU) def. No. 108 Monica Arguello (FU) – 6-1, 6-3
3. Taka Bertrand (VU) def. Lauren Osborne (FU) – 7-5, 6-2
4. No. 51 Courtney Ulery (VU) def. Jessica Preeg (FU) – 6-2, 6-4
5. Keilly Ulery (VU) def. Lauren Tomory (FU) – 6-1, 6-1
6. Caroline Ferrell (VU) def. Natasa Manojlovic (FU) – 6-1, 6-4
Order of Finish: 5, 4, 6, 1, 2, 3
Updated Team Records: Vanderbilt (10-3, 1-3 SEC); Furman (8-5, 2-0 Southern Conference)
