ATHENS, Ga. – Concluding its regular season, No. 7 Vanderbilt women’s tennis fell short to No. 2 Georgia, 4-1, on Sunday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Starting strong in doubles, Commodore pair Emma Kurtz and Emily Smith took down Georgia’s Katarina Jokic and Lourdes Carle, 6-2, to earn the first victory of the match.
But the Bulldogs earned victories on courts 2 and 3 to secure the doubles point.
“We had chances to win the doubles point. It was a very difficult doubles point and a real momentum-turner in the match,” said head coach Geoff Macdonald.
Georgia extended its lead to 2-0 with No. 53 Vivian Wolff taking down freshman Carolyn Campana, 6-2, 6-4.
Pushing the Bulldogs to a 3-0 lead, top-ranked sophomore Katarina Jokic held No. 68 Georgia Drummy to four games in both sets to earn a straight-set win, 6-4, 6-4.
Seventh-ranked Fernanda Contreras came back in the first set on court 1 to take down UGA’s No. 20 Marta Gonzalez, 7-6 (4) in the tie break. In the second set, Contreras took an early lead to hold Gonzalez to only three games to put the Commodores on the board.
Clinching the match for the Bulldogs, No. 87 Lourdes Carle earned the upset over No. 17 Christina Rosca, 6-3, 7-6 (5) to seal the final score at 4-1.
“The level of play was very high across all courts. Hats off to Georgia, they played a very strong match and congratulations to them for winning the regular-season championship,” said Macdonald.
Vanderbilt returns to the courts in College Station, Texas, to compete in the 2019 SEC Tournament beginning on Wednesday.
Keep up with the Commodores as they look to maintain their reign as back-to-back tournament champions by following @VandyWTennis on Twitter and Instagram.
