ATLANTA — The No. 20 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team found itself in another nail-biting 4-3 contest on Wednesday afternoon at the Bill Moore Tennis Center in Atlanta. This time, however, the Commodores came out on the right end of the score, winning four singles matches to complete a 4-3 comeback victory over No. 2 Georgia Tech.
Vanderbilt dropped the doubles point for the third straight match. Georgia Tech’s 29th-ranked duo of Kristi Miller and Kirsten Flower recorded an 8-6 victory over Amanda Taylor and Courtney Ulery at the No. 1 doubles position. Playing together for the first time this season, Keilly Ulery and Taka Bertrand won the doubles match at the third position 9-7. The doubles point was decided at the second position between No. 52 Whitney McCray and Sasha Krupina of Georgia Tech and Caroline Ferrell and Catherine Newman of Vanderbilt. The Georgia Tech pair claimed a hard-fought match, winning 9-8 and clinching the doubles point for the Yellow Jackets.
No. 78 Noelle Hickey put the Yellow Jackets up 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-0 victory at the No. 6 singles position over Ferrell.
No. 57 Bertrand started the Commodore comeback with a straight-set upset victory over No. 33 Flower. Bertrand won the opening set 6-3, and won the second set 6-2. No. 51 Courtney Ulery evened the match at two with a 7-5, 6-2 win over No. 34 McCray.
No. 21 Maya Johansson put Georgia Tech back on top 3-2 with a victory over Keilly Ulery at No. 5 singles. After dropping the first set 6-2, Ulery rebounded to win the second set 6-3. Johansson won the deciding third set 6-4 to clinch the match.
Playing at No. 1 singles, No. 35 Taylor squared the match at three, defeating Amanda McDowell, the second-ranked player in the country, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
With the match even at three, the singles match between Vanderbilt’s No. 37 Newman and No. 5 Miller of Georgia Tech would decide the match . Newman won the opening set 7-6, but Miller came back in the second, winning 7-5. With the match riding on the third set between the two top-40 players, Newman was able to score the upset win, capturing the third set 6-4.
With the win, Vanderbilt increases its lead in the overall series to 10-2, including winning eight of the last nine meetings between the two schools.
Vanderbilt returns to action this weekend as it opens its home Southeastern Conference schedule against Arkansas on Friday and LSU on Sunday.
Wednesday’s Results:
No. 20 Vanderbilt 4 def. No. 2 Georgia Tech 3
Doubles:
1. No. 29 Kristi Miller/Kirsten Flower (GT) def. Amanda Taylor/Courtney Ulery (VU) – 8-6
2. No. 52 Whitney McCray/Sasha Krupina (GT) def. Caroline Ferrell/Catherine Newman (VU) – 9-8
3. Taka Bertrand/Keilly Ulery (VU) def. Noelle Hickey/Christy Striplin (GT) – 9-7
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles:
1. No. 35 Amanda Taylor (VU) def. No. 2 Amanda McDowell (GT) – 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
2. No. 37 Catherine Newman (VU) def. No. 5 Kristi Miller (GT) – 7-6, 5-7, 6-4
3. No. 51 Courtney Ulery (VU) def. No. 34 Whitney McCray (VU) – 7-5, 6-2
4. Taka Bertrand (VU) def. No. 33 Kirsten Flower (GT) – 6-2, 6-3
5. No. 21 Maya Johansson (GT) def. Keilly Ulery (VU) – 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
6. Noelle Hickey (GT) def. Caroline Ferrell (VU) – 6-2, 6-0
Order of Finish: 6, 4, 3, 5, 1, 2
Updated Team Records: Vanderbilt 8-2, 0-2 SEC; Georgia Tech 9-3, 1-0 ACC
