GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team opened up their fall season in impressive fashion Friday winning six matches in singles, while the teams of Catherine Newman and Taka Bertrand and Caroline Ferrell and Keilly Ulery claimed wins in doubles play.
“I thought today was a good start to the fall season,” head coach Geoff Macdonald said. “I was pleased considering it was our first day of matches. Some teams already had a week under their belt, so I thought we did well for our first day of competition.”
In singles, No. 20 Amanda Taylor advanced to the second round of flight one with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Elizabeth Carpenter of Wisconsin. Taylor faces No. 82 Laura Gioia of Furman in tomorrow’s second round.
No. 27 Newman, completing in flight two of singles, moved on to round two with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Lauren Osborne of Furman. Newman meets North Carolina’s Laura Reichert in the second round tomorrow.
Bertrand, ranked No. 73 in singles, claimed a straight-set victory in the first round of flight 3 defeating Lauren McCarthy of Penn State 6-4, 6-1. Bertrand faces Meg Fanjoy of North Carolina in tomorrow’s semifinal round.
Junior Courtney Ulery won her opening round match in flight five. She defeated Dorothy Dohanics of Penn State 6-1, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals where she will face Alexandra Luc of Clemson.
Senior Caroline Ferrell advanced in flight six with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Samantha Eppelsheimer of Clemson. Ferrell faces Natasa Manojlovic of Furman in the next round.
Making her Commodore debut, freshman Katie Kilborn defeated Sarah Lotto from Penn State 6-2, 6-1. Kilborn faces Rosalia Alda from SEC rival Tennessee in tomorrow’s round in flight seven.
The only Commodore to go down to defeat in singles play on Friday was freshman Keilly Ulery. Ulery lost a hard-fought, three-set match to No. 96 Federica van Adrichem of Clemson. Ulery fell in the first set, but rebounded to win the second set in a tiebreak before falling 6-4 in the third set.
Junior Liberty Sveke was held out of play today due to an illness.
In doubles play, the tandem of Newman and Bertrand advanced to the championship of flight two. The pair, ranked No. 58, defeated Osborne and Jessica Preeg from Furman in their opening match of the day 8-0. Newman and Bertrand defeated Reichert and Alex Jurewitz of North Carolina 8-2 to advance to the finals of their flight where they will face No. 32 Carol Salge and Estefania Balda from Clemson.
The doubles team of Ferrell and Keilly Ulery split a pair of matches in flight three of doubles. The duo lost their first-round match to Rosalia Alda and Ghizela Schutte of Tennessee 9-8 (7-4). The pair rebounded in their second match of the day winning 8-4 over Dohanics and Lauren Holzberg of Penn State.
Taylor and Courtney Ulery lost a pair of close matches in flight one of doubles. Macdonald said that his goal for tomorrow was for the team to continue their good play from day one.
“Hopefully tomorrow we can continue our momentum in singles,” Macdonald said. “We would also like to have a good day in doubles. I believe we have a chance to make a real statement tomorrow.”
Play continues tomorrow at Furman with the first matches of the day scheduled for 9 a.m. Complete results will be available on vucommodores.com.
Day One Results – Furman Fall Classic
Minor Herndon Mickel Tennis Center – Greenville, S.C.
Singles Play:
No. 20 Amanda Taylor (VU) def. Elizabeth Carpenter (Wisconsin) – 6-3, 6-1 – Flight One
No. 27 Catherine Newman (VU) def. Lauren Osborne (Furman) – 6-2, 6-2 – Flight Two
No. 73 Taka Bertrand (VU) def. Lauren McCarthy (Penn State) – 6-4, 6-1 – Flight Three
No. 96 Federica van Adrichem (Clemson) def. Keilly Ulery (VU) – 7-5, 6-7 (7-3), 6-4 – Flight Four
Courtney Ulery (VU) def. Dorothy Dohanics (Penn State) – 6-1, 6-2 – Flight Five
Caroline Ferrell (VU) def. Samantha Eppelsheimer (Clemson) – 6-4, 6-3 – Flight Six
Katie Kilborn (VU) def. Sarah Lotto (Penn State) – 6-2, 6-1 – Flight Seven
Kim Roberts (Wisconsin) def. Liberty Sveke (VU), ret. – Flight Seven
Doubles Play:
No. 10 Zsophia Zubor/Caitlin Whoriskey (Tennessee) def. Taylor/Courtney Ulery (VU) – 8-6 – Flight One
Sophie Grabinski/Meg Fanjoy (UNC) def. Taylor/Courtney Ulery (VU) – 8-6 – Flight One
No. 58 Newman/Bertrand (VU) def. Osborne/Jessica Preeg (Furman) – 8-0 – Flight Two
No. 58 Newman/Bertrand (VU) def. Laura Reichert/Alex Jurewitz (UNC) – 8-2 – Flight Two
Rosalia Alda/Ghizela Schutte (Tennessee) def. Ferrell/Keilly Ulery (VU) – 9-8 (7-4) – Flight Three
Ferrell/Keilly Ulery (VU) def. Dohanics/Lauren Holzberg (Penn State) – 8-4 – Flight Three
