The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team opened its season this morning at the Furman Fall Classic. The Commodores shined in singles match play, only dropping three of nine matches during the course of first round play.
“We had a solid first day”, said associate head coach Aleke Tsoubanos. “In singles I thought by and large we competed well. We battled some adversity on a few courts and were able to pull out six of nine matches. We will try to learn from the ones that didn’t go our way and look for more opportunities tomorrow. This time of year is about learning, growing, and focusing on the process rather than the outcome. The goal is to get better with each match we play.”
Ellie Yates, a transfer from Southern California, exceedingly impressed Tsoubanos with her performance and the resolve she displayed in her singles debut. Yates defeated South Carolina’s Natalie Looney 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (3), coming out victorious in one of the hardest fought matches of the tournament thus far.
“I’m proud of Ellie (Yates), she showed a lot of guys pulling through the longest match of the day…going 7-6 in the third set after losing a match point at 6-5 up.”
Doubles play began at 9:00 a.m. with four Vanderbilt teams taking the courts. The Dores’ had a very successful outing with two teams vying for third place in their flights tomorrow. The tandems team of Ashleigh Antal and Astra Sharma are competing against South Carolina’s Brigit Folland and Meghan Blevins for their flight championship Saturday at 9:00 a.m.
“In doubles we started well in the first round of matches, but could have had much better focus and energy in the second round. Ashleigh (Antal) and Astra (Sharma) will have a great opportunity tomorrow in the finals of their flight.”
Tournament play resumes tomorrow morning with doubles beginning at 9:00 a.m., followed by singles at 10:30 a.m.
Friday results
Doubles Round One
F1 Colton/Campbell def. Talcott/Dohanics (Iowa), 8-2
F2 Casares/Altick def. Schippers/Rush (Florida State), 8-6
F3 Folland/Blevins (South Carolina) def. Yates/Leavell, 8-1
F3 Antal/Sharma def. Boles/Tavares (Tennessee), 8-5
Doubles Round Two
F1 Castaneda/Fanning (Florida State) def. Colton/Campbell, 8-2
F2 Greene/Zabor (Alabama) def. Casares/Altick, 8-1
F3 Reimchen/Silver (Iowa) def. Robinette/Leavell, 8-2
F3 Antal/Sharma def. Martin/Looney (South Carolina), 8-3
Singles Round One
F1 Gabriela Castaneda (Florida State) def. Frances Altick, 6-3, 6-3
F2 Sydney Campbell def. Tori Olivares (Tennessee), 6-3, 6-0
F3 Marie Casares def. Bennett Dunn (Alabama), 6-0, 6-3
F3 Courtney Colton def. Katie Zordani (Iowa), 6-2, 6-2
F4 Astra Sharma def. Keisha Clousing (Clemson), 6-2, 6-4
F5 Ashleigh Antal def. Megen Cochran (South Carolina), 6-0, 6-2
F6 Ellie Yates def. Natalie Looney (South Carolina), 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(3)
F7 Kate Fosnacht (South Carolina) def. Maggie Leavell, 6-3, 6-3
F7 Ashlee Boles (Tennessee) def. Payton Robinette, 6-4, 6-2
