BOULDER, Colo. – The 22nd-ranked Vanderbilt women’s tennis team started the 2010 dual season off on the right foot as it cruised to a 6-1 win over No. 60 Colorado at the Millennium Harvest House indoor courts in Boulder on Saturday. The mile-high altitudes didn’t seem to bother the Commodores to much as they won five of the six singles matches after sweeping the doubles point from the Buffaloes.
“I am very happy with the way we competed today in our first duel against a great Colorado team, head coach Geoff Macdonald said.
VU (1-0) took the early 1-0 lead in the match when Chelsea Preeg and Jackie Wu finished off Colorado’s senior team of Melisa Esposito and Camila Belassi (8-5) in the number one doubles slot. The 40th-ranked team of Wu and Preeg have now won 11 of its last 12 matches dating back Oct. 22, 2009.
The junior tandem of Keilly Ulery and Rachael Dillon gave VU an early advantage to win the doubles point when defeated CU’s team of Abbie Probert and Michala Jensen by a score of 8-1.
Catherine Newman and Erica Robertson paired up for the first time in their careers in dual play as they knocked off Ania Anuszkiewicz and Monica Milewski, 8-6 to give VU a 3-0 sweep in doubles.
The ‘Dores waisted little time in clinching the match over the Buffs as Jackie Wu, Catherine Newman and Keilly Ulery all won in straight sets in respective order to give VU the victory.
After playing only one singles match last weekend at the Wildcat Invite, Wu needed little time to over power Colorado’s 64th-ranked Melisa Esposito, taking the match 6-2, 6-3 and more importantly giving VU an early 2-0 lead in the dual.
Newman followed Wu’s performance with a strong one of her own as she took down CU’s top player in Monica Milewski, 6-2, 7-5 to put VU ahead 3-0 in the match.
Minutes later, Ulery clinched the match for the Commodores, dispatching Camila Belassi in consecutive sets (7-5, 6-0) for her second win in 2010.
With Vanderbilt holding a 4-0 lead with three singles matches left to play, the ‘Dores closed out the meet by taking two of the final three matches. Preeg and Robertson registered straight set wins while Dillon fell to CU’s Jensen, making the final score 6-1 in favor of Vanderbilt.
The ‘Dores will look to build from their first win of 2010 when they face the 49th-ranked Denver Pioneers tomorrow at 11 a.m. CT.
January 23, 2010
No. 22 Vanderbilt 6, No. 60 Colorado 1
Doubles
No. 1 No. 40 Wu/Preeg (VU) def. Esposito/Belassi (CU) 8-5
No. 2 Newman/Robertson (VU) def. Milewski/Anuszkiewicz (CU) 8-6
No. 3 Ulery/Dillon (VU) def. Probert/Jensen (CU) 8-1
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
No. 1 No. 31 Catherine Newman (VU) def. No. 90 Monica Milewski (CU) 6-2, 7-5
No. 2 No. 29 Jackie Wu (VU) def. No. 64 Melisa Esposito (CU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 Keilly Ulery (VU) def. Camila Belassi (CU) 7-5, 6-0
No. 4 No. 32 Chelsea Preeg (VU) def. Abbie Probert (CU) 6-4, 6-1
No. 5 Michala Hedelund Jensen (CU) def. Rachael Dillon (VU) 7-6, 6-3
No. 6 Erica Robertson (VU) def. Ania Anuszkiewicz (CU) 7-5, 7-5
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6
