MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Three women’s tennis players competed Monday morning in the final rounds of the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships in Murfreesboro, Tenn. with all three dropping matches to Kentucky.
“We had a really good regional this year,” said head coach Geoff Macdonald. “We’ve won and done so well in the past, but I give Kentucky a lot of credit. I thought they played inspired tennis, and they’re a team on the rise. That being said, we look at the fall for development and improvement. You also look for the heart and competitiveness in your team, and it was there all weekend.”
With both matches going simultaneously at 9:30 a.m., top-seeded Sydney Campbell took on UK’s second-seeded Adila Sutjiadi. The Wildcat commanded the first set, 6-2, but Campbell used the loss as motivation and forced a second set tiebreaker.
While the Commodore fought hard throughout the breaker, coming back from a 5-1 deficit, the Wildcat secured her place in the singles draw at ITA National Indoors, 6-2, 7-6(6).
“This was Sydney’s first tournament back since Tulsa in May,” stated Macdonald. “That’s almost five full months away and she played great and showed why she’s one of the best players in the country. I give her a lot of credit, this is a great result.”
Second-seeded doubles pair Astra Sharma and Emma Kurtz faced UK’s Justina Mikulskyte/Lesedi Jacobs in the regional doubles championship. The Vandy duo put up a good fight in their first tournament together, making it to finals, before falling to UK 6-3, 6-4.
Sharma will represent Vanderbilt in the NIIC singles draw as the redshirt-junior cemented her place after a fantastic run in the ITA All-American Championships. This is the fourth-straight year that a Commodore will contend in National Indoors in New York. NIIC’s are slated to begin Nov. 3 with the singles championship on Nov. 6.
