Nov. 5, 2016
FLUSHING, N.Y. – Astra Sharma’s historic run at the USTA/ITA Indoor Intercollegiate Championships came to a close Saturday morning as the Vandy women’s tennis player fell to North Carolina’s top-ranked Hayley Carter in tournament semifinals.
“Astra (Sharma) capped her fall with a great national tournament,” said assistant coach Boomer Saia. “There are no easy matches here, and she was able to raise her level of play when she needed it, which contributed to her success here in New York. We spoke a lot about the right kind of mindset this week and she was able to stick with that throughout the tournament and she continued to implement the things we have been working on in practices. She came up a little bit short against a very good player in Haley Carter, but Astra was able to learn a lot from the loss today. She has positioned herself amongst the best in college tennis this fall and we are excited for the team season this spring.”
Sharma’s tournament berth comes off last month’s semifinal run at All-Americans, where she was the first Vanderbilt student-athlete to make it to the tournament’s final four.
In a close first-set battle, Carter who sits atop the ITA preseason singles poll, was able to pull away with the first set, 6-4. Down 5-0 in the second set, the Vanderbilt redshirt-junior went up two breaks off deuce points to cut the Tar Heel’s lead to 5-3. Ranked 19th in the country, Sharma failed to convert the final deuce point of the competition with Carter locking down her spot in NIIC finals, 6-4, 6-3.
The Perth, Australia native returns to Nashville with the tournament’s USTA/ITA Sportsmanship Award. This award is given to one women’s and one men’s player from this week that displayed good sportsmanship on the court and is voted on by coaches and officials.
“It’s very fitting that Astra received the sportsmanship award for the tournament,” said Saia. “She is one of the most respectful and honest people I have been around and we as a team are extremely proud she has been distinguished with the award.”
The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team will be back in action when the dual-match season begins attending Miami’s annual invitational beginning January 20.
