ATHENS, Ga. – The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team dropped a heartbreaking match at No. 11 Georgia to conclude their regular season road slate. At doubles, the Commodores and Bulldogs traded sets on Courts 1 and 2 before a tiebreak on Court 3 ultimately decided the contest.
After Georgia clinched the doubles point, the two teams split the singles courts en route to the 4-3 final.
Seeing Double
- Both teams came out strong on the doubles courts as all three courts were once knotted at 4-4. After trading a pair of sets on the first two courts, the Commodores and Bulldogs went to a tiebreak on Court 3 where it was Georgia taking the elusive doubles point.
- Marcella Cruz and Anessa Lee put up a battle on Court 2 but fell by a slim 6-4 margin to open the afternoon in Athens.
- Anna Ross and Holly Staff took down 16th-ranked Morgan Coppoc and Ania Hertel to even it out at doubles. After trialing early on, the 76th-ranked duo out of Vanderbilt came back to top their opponents 7-5 on Court 1.
- Dasha Kourkina and MaryAnn Rompf forced a tiebreak on Court 3, but were unable to capitalize and dropped the 7-6(4) decision as the Bulldogs grabbed the first point of the day.
Solid Singles
- Facing the 58th-ranked Dasha Vidmanova on Court 2, Anessa Lee, ranked 78th nationally, gave the Dores their first point of the day when her opposition retired in the first set. The pair were tied 5-5 in their match at the time.
- The Bulldogs reclaimed the lead as 46th-ranked Anna Ross fell by a pair of 6-4 sets to the 29th-ranked Lea Ma of Georgia.
- On Court 4, Marcella Cruz dropped a pair of sets to Morgan Coppoc, 6-1 and 6-2, as Georgia took a 3-1 lead on the Dores.
- On Court 6, Amy Stevens looked to upset 112nd-ranked Ania Hertel, nearly forcing a third set before falling 6-4 in set two for the Bulldogs’ match-clinching point.
- Dasha Kourkina gave the Dores their second point of the match with a win in straight sets on Court 5 over No. 83 Meg Kowalski, 6-3 and 7-5.
- After dropping the tiebreak in set one, Holly Staff forced a deciding third set on Court 3 with a 6-3 second set win over 25th-ranked Mell Reasco. In a third set tiebreak, Staff defeated Reasco, 10-8, to give Vanderbilt the 4-3 final.
Up Next
The Commodores return home next weekend to conclude the regular season with three matches at the Currey Tennis Center. Friday’s doubleheader features contests with Mississippi State and Bellarmine before rounding out the regular season Sunday at 11 a.m. against Ole Miss.
A presentation honoring the senior class will take place prior to Sunday’s match, set to begin at 10:35 a.m.
