TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Vanderbilt women’s tennis wrapped up an excellent Roberta Alison Fall Classic on Saturday with six combined wins between singles and doubles play.
Courtney Colton and Georgina Sellyn each went 3-0 in singles play for the weekend as they each won their respective flights.
Colton defeated Auburn’s Emily Flickinger 6-3, 6-2 in the third round to begin her collegiate career. Sellyn had an equally impressive opening tournament as she defeated Naomi Tran from Mississippi State 6-2, 6-3, in the final round.
After dropping her first round match on Friday to a tough opponent from Clemson, Frances Altick rebounded nicely to win her final two singles matches. Altick won her final round match against Alabama’s Maya Jensen 6-4, 6-2.
Maggie Leavell started the afternoon session in the final round of singles and had to face Georgia State’s Jocelyn Ffriend. Leavell fell behind early in the first set and just couldn’t seem to find a rhythym as she lost 6-4, 6-4. Leavell left Tuscaloosa with a 1-2 record in singles play.
Megan Gornet rounded out the Vandy competitors in singles play. Gornet lost a tough one in the final round to Kentucky’s Khristina Blajkevitch 6-4, 6-1.
“I was really pleased with the girls in this first tournament,” said assistant coach Aleke Tsoubanos. “I thought we got a lot of good matches in and the competition was great. We fought through some long days and I think we have a lot we can learn.”
In doubles action, the duo of Colton and Leavell swept all three of their doubles matches at the Roberta Alison Fall Classic.
Colton and Leavell were in a tight battle during their final round match with Mississippi State’s Sarai Flores and Alexandra Perper. The two teams went back-and-forth through the first eight games before Vandy took control for the win, 8-5.
Altick and Sellyn finished the doubles portion of the tournament on a good note as they defeated Lewis and Caballero from Samford, 8-1. The quick victory gave the Commodores some rest before their final singles matches.
The day began with second round doubles action and the Commodores winning one out of two matches. The duo of Colton and Leavell defeated Carla Nava and Flavia Nagayama from Middle Tennessee State, 8-5.
In the other match, Altick and Sellyn were matched up with Northwestern’s top duo of Linda Abu Mushrefova and Nida Hamilton. Altick and Sellyn fought right down to the wire before the Wildcat pair won, 8-6.
“If we can reflect on this weekend in the next couple weeks, then I am really looking forward to taking another step towards regionals,” Tsoubanos said. “This is a really good starting place for us and we’ll see where we can go from there.”
Vanderbilt has a week-and-a-half to prepare for the Ohio Valley Regionals (Oct. 18-21), which will be held in West Lafayette, Ind.
Doubles Results
Second Round:
Mushrefova/Hamilton (Northwestern) def. Altick/Sellyn (Vanderbilt) 8-6
Colton/Leavell (Vanderbilt) def. Nava/Nagayama (Middle Tennessee) 8-5
Third Round:
Altick/Sellyn (Vanderbilt) def. Lewis/Caballero (Samford) 8-1
Colton/Leavell (Vanderbilt) def. Perper/Flores (Mississippi State) 8-5
Singles Results
Third Round:
Frances Altick (Vanderbilt) def. Maya Jensen (Alabama) 6-4, 6-2
Courtney Colton (Vanderbilt) def. Emily Flickinger (Auburn) 6-3, 6-2
Georgina Sellyn (Vanderbilt) def. Naomi Tran (Mississippi State) 6-2, 6-3
Khristina Blajkevitch (Kentucky) def. Megan Gornet (Vanderbilt) 6-4, 6-1
Jocelyn Ffriend (Georgia State) def. Maggie Leavell (Vanderbilt) 6-4, 6-3
