OXFORD, Miss. – The fifth-ranked Vanderbilt women’s tennis team escaped Mississippi with two wins under its belt, as the squad earned a 5-1 victory over the No. 36 Ole Miss Rebels.
The Commodores began the day falling in doubles, but went on a five match tear on courts one through five in singles to give Vandy its seventh conference win of the season.
“I thought everyone did a really great job today,” said head coach Geoff Macdonald. “That second match in the SEC can be a tough one. You know, you’ve been on the road a few days and two matches back-to-back was a little unusual for us. But I thought we competed really well.”
All three doubles matches were tight competitions Saturday afternoon, and with simultaneous match points, the Rebels swept all three courts. VU encountered two 6-4 losses, first falling on three, then No. 58 Courtney Colton and Astra Sharma falling 6-4 to Mississippi’s No. 26 Hartono/El Kamash.
“Mississippi played a really good doubles point I thought. We’ve lost the doubles point enough this year to not be disturbed by it. We kept our cool, and then went on to do a great job on first sets in singles.”
Vanderbilt rebounded nicely in singles play taking all six first sets. All victories came in straight sets, with Courtney Colton clinching Commodores victory. No. 21 Sharma got off court first, earning the first of three ranked singles wins in a 6-3, 6-2 win over No. 98 El Kamash.
No. 17 Frances Altick followed the victory with one of her own, as the senior downed No. 97 Suk in commanding fashion, 6-3, 6-3. The victory on court two was Altick’s 100th career singles win for the black and gold.
Sydney Campbell, ranked 25th, rounded out the ranked wins with a tight 6-4, 7-5 victory over a strong player in UM’s No. 37 Arianne Hartono. The loss on court one, was the Rebels third of the dual season.
VU capped off the match with victories on courts four and five, as Colton and Georgina Sellyn earned the final two victories, to serve the Rebels a hard loss on senior day.
Vanderbilt remains on the road next weekend, but Altick will be in competition on Monday in her first pro event, the Volvo Car Open (Family Circle). The senior takes on Allison Riske, whose sister Sarah played doubles with associate head coach Aleke Tsoubanos.
