April 19, 2018
Live Stream | Live Stats
Welcome to the postseason. It’s tournament time for the 2018 Southeastern Conference Regular Season Champion Vanderbilt women’s tennis team, as the squad begins competition as the No. 1 seed.
Following a bye, the Commodores are set to face No. 36 Texas A&M in SEC quarterfinal play. The ninth-seeded Aggies broke a five-match losing streak Thursday evening, pulling off a 4-3 victory to upset 24th-ranked and eighth-seeded Kentucky. A&M freshman, Iulia Ivascu, clinched the match in three sets for the Maroon and White, 7-5, 6-7, 7-5.
“The SEC tournament is always different than what regular season conference play as shown us,” stated redshirt senior Astra Sharma. “Friday against A&M will be a different matchup, a lot more intense. But Geoff (Macdonald) and Aleke (Tsoubanos) have told us to acknowledge how well we did in the regular season, but then put that aside and reset… and to come out on fire.
“This the team did a lot of writing and some visualization of what we want tomorrow’s match to look like and feel like… how we want to play our best and what that looks like. Our practice was pretty light, to get everyone adjusted… but we’re ready to get out on the court tomorrow.”
Vandy, the reigning 2017 SEC Tournament Champions, swept the Aggies earlier this season, 4-0, for its 15th victory on the year. VU clinched the doubles point for the 1-0 lead and strung together singles victories by Amanda Meyer, Christina Rosca and Summer Dvorak on courts 4, 3 and 6 respectively for the victory.
Aggie Report:
- Texas A&M owns a 16-9 overall record this season
- The Aggies went 5-8 in conference play
- TAMU is the tournament’s ninth seed
- The Aggies made a second-round exit in the 2017 SEC Tournament
- Texas A&M boasts one ranked player, No. 76 Macarena Olivares
- In doubles, Domenica Gonzalez and Eva Paalma are No. 59
Clear Bag Policy
- As an SEC Event, the SEC Tournament adheres to a strict clear bag policy for all matches. All spectators must abide by this rule
- There will be medical bag check gates for people who need to bring their medical necessities in a regular bag. (NOTE: Diaper bags are not medical bags.)
- Teams and staff must have all bags checked by police before entering the facility
Fan Parking
- The primary lot for fans is about a 5-10 minute walk to the tennis facility
- There will be frequent shuttles running from the spectator lot to the courts
Television Coverage
The championship match will be televised on SEC Network, with Sam Gore and Jimmy Arias calling the action.
2018 SEC Women’s Tennis Tournament
Barksdale Stadium | Knoxville, Tenn.
April 18-22, 2018 | Times in ET
Fri., April 20 – QUARTERFINALS
Match 7: LSU vs. 2 Florida – 9 a.m.
Match 8: Arkansas vs. 3 South Carolina – 12 p.m.
Match 9: Texas A&M vs. 1 Vanderbilt – 3 p.m.
Match 10: OM/UT vs. 4 Georgia – 6 p.m.
Sat., April 21 – SEMIFINALS
Match 11: Match 7 Winner vs. Match 8 Winner – 10 a.m.
Match 12: Match 9 Winner vs. Match 10 Winner – 2 p.m.
Sun., April 22 – CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH (SEC Network)
Match 13: Match 11 Winner vs. Match 12 Winner – 2:30 p.m.
Times EASTERN
