Madison, Wisc. – A week after sweeping top-ranked Stanford, the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team swept another top three team in the nation on Saturday, rolling by No. 3 Florida 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoors at the University of Wisconsin.
Saturday’s quarterfinal started with a gritty doubles point versus the Gators as both courts one and two walked away with tight 6-4 victories.
Ranked 31st in the country, Astra Sharma and Fernanda Contreras found themselves in a hole early against UF’s Anna Danilina and Victoria Emma. Trailing 1-3, the Commodores put their foot on the gas to take five games in a row over the Gators to complete what would be the first of two comeback victories for the Dores.
Emma Kurtz and Emily Smith sealed the doubles point in the Commodores’ favor on court two. The sophomore/junior duo allowed Florida to break serve four times but pulled off the victory and point advantage for VU with a 6-4 victory.
With the 1-0 advantage, the Commodores were determined to remain focused throughout singles play versus their first SEC foe of the year and the defending national champion.
Amanda Meyer put up a tough performance on court six, as the freshman continued to exhibit the consistent tennis she has played to earn herself a spot in the VU lineup. Meyer battled until the very end to hold Katie Kubicz at bay for the 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Up 2-0, No. 19 Christina Rosca performed the second comeback on the day, battling back from a 6-1 first set loss to take court three in three sets. As soon as Rosca fell in the first set she immediately made up for the loss, taking the second set from McCartney Kessler 6-3. Rosca limited Kessler to just one game in the third set for the comeback win.
Ranked No. 5 in the country, Contreras delivered Florida its final loss of the tournament. The junior out of Austin, Texas continued to play dominant tennis, powering past No. 50 Josie Kuhlman 6-4, 7-5 on court two.
“Even though the score was 4-0, the match was close,” said head coach Geoff Macdonald. “Florida is fantastic and even though they’ve had a few early losses they’re getting better in this reloading year. It was a hard-earned win for the team. Whenever there was a tough moment or we hit a bad spot I thought we were extremely calm in the face of some tough moments and fought back.”
The last time the Gators were swept was Feb. 8, 2015 versus Duke in Team Indoors semifinals.
Traditionally one of the team’s toughest early season challenges, tomorrow’s semifinal will be the third appearance for the black and gold who landed in semifinals in 2001 and earned runner-up in the 2002 tournament.
VU faces No. 6 Pepperdine tomorrow at noon CT. The Waves defeated Georgia Tech 4-2 for their spot in the tournament semifinals. VU topped Pepperdine last season in NCAA Semifinals 4-2.
