NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The sixth-ranked Vanderbilt women’s tennis team sent their four seniors off on a high night, capping off the regular season at home with a 6-1 victory over the No. 62 Alabama Crimson Tide.
“Alabama has had a really tough year, but they’re well coached, that’s just a world class program,” said head coach Geoff Macdonald. “They fought really really hard. We were a little stronger in the lower part of the lineup, and we knew they were going to be tough in a couple of spots and they were. It was a beautiful day and a rally appreciative crowd. I thought it was a great way to say thanks to our seniors for their career here.”
The Commodores took the doubles point, and five straight singles matches in route to their third straight undefeated regular season home record. Redshirt junior Georgina Sellyn clinched the squad’s 18 victory this season and 32nd home win in a row.
With an 11-2 SEC record, the Commodores enter the SEC tournament as the No. 2 seed sitting behind the regular season champion Florida Gators. UGA earned the third seed after falling to UF on Friday.
In doubles, the Commodores earned a commanding victory on three as Sellyn and Fernanda Contreras earned their sixth SEC win, overpowering Dunn/Speilmann, 6-3. Having a hard time closing out deuce points, Frances Altick and Astra Sharma rallied to clinch the point for the ‘Dores, 6-4. No. 11 Courtney Colton and Sydney Campbell were up 5-4 at the clinch.
With the point advantage, Vandy took five straight victories in singles, taking four wins in straight sets.
The bottom portion of the VU lineup was particularly strong as Contreras got off court with an exceptional 6-0, 6-0 sweep at No. 6 singles. The freshman ends her regular season with only one SEC loss to her name and a 13-2 dual record.
No. 19 Campbell earned her 75th victory for the black and gold as the junior topped Bama’s No. 28 Erin Routliffe 6-4, 6-1 to give VU the 3-0 advantage. Sellyn picked up the clinch for Vandy powering though her match on five, 6-2, 6-3, to earn her ninth conference win and 12th this season.
With the victory sealed, two of the four seniors, Altick and Colton, were still battling determined to earn victories on senior day. Colton rounded off the last two setter of the day, defeating Speilmann 6-0, 6-3 for her 90th Commodore victory.
Rallies were needed on both courts two and three as No. 13 Altick and No. 21 Sharma split sets to head to a 10-point tiebreaker. Both Commodores delivered powerful blows point after point, but the Crimson Tide hung around. Altick came out on top taking the breaker 10-8, but Sharma wasn’t as lucky, falling to Maynetto on three, 7-6, 1-6, 1-0(7).
Vanderbilt looks to rest up before heading down south to Baton Rouge, Louisiana for the SEC tournament. While the tournament begins April 20th and lasts through Sunday the 24th, Vandy will begin play on Friday at 10:00 am against the winner of the Arkansas/MSU match. Last season, the ‘Dores won their first-ever SEC tournament championship as the No. 4 seed.
