ATHENS, Ga. –The No. 11 Vanderbilt Commodores went 1-1 this weekend as the squad lost their first conference match, 4-2, to the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs Sunday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. With the loss, VU now owns a 9-5 overall record and 4-1 conference mark.
“They were a good Georgia team and we just got outplayed, especially in the middle of the lineup,” said head coach Geoff Macdonald. “We just had way too many unforced errors and made it a little too easy for them, but I give them credit they played a heck of a match.”
Picked to come in at second place in the SEC coaches’ poll, Vandy knew they were up for a challenge but the `Dores come out strong, taking the doubles point over the Bulldogs with wins on courts two and three.
No. 30 Ashligh Antal and Astra Sharma downed the 20th ranked team of Silvia Garcia/Kennedy Shaffer; 8-4. With the victory, the tandem continued to ride an undefeated stream, going 6-0 overall 4-0 in SEC play. On court three, Frances Altick and Marie Casares locked down the doubles point with an 8-3 win over the Bulldogs’ Gould and Brinson.
“You always look for things to build off from, and we played a good doubles point. You know you’re on the road, you win the doubles point, and we didn’t make them earn the opportunities… we gave away too many. It’s kind of like basketball with a lot of turnovers and poor rebounding. We played a couple of very very good complete matches, but, I’m not sure if it was Georgia just being really good or we just didn’t step it up when we had a chance to pull ahead.”
With the advantage the Commodores set their sights on singles play.
Redshirted-freshman Sharma (77) carried her momentum over from doubles, taking down No. 56 Ellen Perez in a 6-2, 6-3 victory for the `Dores lone singles victory.
With two close first set losses on courts one and six, Vanderbilt looked to second sets to even the playing field, but the Bulldogs went on a four-match run to complete the comeback victory.
“You can learn a lot out of a loss and we’ve talked about that. Sometimes when you win a lot you don’t reflect, you don’t analyze and you get in a few habits. But this week we will just try to build and keep going. It’s such a tough league that its hard to go through it unscathed, but we’ll just practice and look forward to the next conference matches.”
Vanderbilt returns home next weekend, hosting the Missouri Tigers Friday (4 p.m.) and the Arkansas Razorbacks Sunday (4 p.m.).
#7 Georgia 5, #11 Vanderbilt 2
Singles competition
1. #11 Lauren Herring (UGA) def. #9 Sydney Campbell (VU) 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (10-8)
2. #77 Astra Sharma (VU) def. #56 Ellen Perez (UGA) 6-2, 6-3
3. #102 Silvia Garcia (UGA) def. #84 Courtney Colton (VU) 6-3, 6-1
4. #58 Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) def. #96 Frances Altick (VU) 6-3, 6-2
5. #55 Hannah King (UGA) def. Ashleigh Antal (VU) 6-2, 6-4
6. Caroline Brinson (UGA) def. #72 Marie Casares (VU) 7-5, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #16 Lauren Herring/Ellen Perez (UGA) vs. #15 Sydney Campbell/Courtney Colton (VU) 6-5, unfinished
2. #30 Astra Sharma/Ashleigh Antal (VU) def. #20 Silvia Garcia/Kennedy Shaffer (UGA) 8-4
3. Frances Altick/Marie Casares (VU) def. Mariana Gould/Caroline Brinson (UGA) 8-3
Match Notes:
Vanderbilt 9-5 (4-1); National ranking #11
Georgia 12-4 (5-1); National ranking #7
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (2,5,3,4,6,1)
