NASHVILLE, Tenn. – One week after falling to Clemson in the championship match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team rebounded with a 6-1 win over No. 41 Yale Saturday afternoon at the Currey Tennis Center.
“Yale is a very good team,” said head coach Geoff Macdonald. “I thought we played really well and fought through some tough sets.”
The Commodores started off the afternoon by claiming the doubles point after winning two of three doubles matches. Lauren Mira and Keilly Ulery quickly won their match on court three, defeating Elizabeth Epstein and Kim Szokol, 8-0. Yale’s Vicky Brook and Lindsay Clark tied the doubles matches with an 8-5 win over Rachael Dillon and Alex Leatu in the No. 1 match. Chelsea Preeg and Jackie Wu were able to claim the doubles point for the Commodores with an 8-6 win on court two.
In singles play, Ulery quickly gave Vanderbilt a 2-0 lead with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Sullivan in the No. 5 match. Minutes later, Wu increased the lead for the Commodores with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Brook on court one. Preeg clinched the victory for Vanderbilt with a 6-3, 6-3 win in the No. 3 match.
Mira and Leatu added to the Commodore lead with wins on courts four and two, respectively. Mira battled to a 7-5 win in the first set before topping Stephanie Kent, 6-4, in the second set. Leatu also picked up a 7-5 win in the first set, but fell, 4-6, in the second set. In the tiebreaker set, Leatu came out with an 11-9 victory to claim the match.
“I thought Lauren Mira’s win was really important, and it was a good win for her,” said Macdonald. “Overall, I though we played really well today and regrouped after the Clemson loss quite well.”
Stevi Petrelli picked up the lone point for the Bulldogs as she defeated Nelly Radeva, 6-1, 6-2 in the No. 6 match.
The Commodores are back on the courts Sunday for a noon matchup against the Princeton Tigers.
