LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team dropped its SEC tournament semifinal match to third-ranked Florida 4-1 on Saturday afternoon.
The doubles round proved to be intense, but after splitting wins at Nos. 1 and 2 the Commodores found themselves on the losing end of a thrilling 7-4 tiebreaker at No. 3, giving Florida the advantage heading into singles.
The Gators (21-1) found early wins over VU’s Courtney Ulery and Liberty Sveke, allowing Florida to sit on a dual match point as Commodores Amanda Fish, Amanda Taylor, Catherine Newman and Taka Bertrand continued at the top of the lineup.
Newman held off the Florida attack with a straight set win over Nina Suvak at No. 4. The win brought the outstanding freshman’s dual match mark to 18-5 and year total to 31-7.
The scoreboard read 3-1 with the Florida advantage when VU’s Amanda Taylor finished with a 6-4, 6-2 loss to clinch the Gator win.
VU’s lineup leader Amanda Fish ended play with a 6-5, 5-3 deficit, while Taka Bertrand was in the midst of a third set advantage (3-6, 6-3, 3-2).
The Commodores will have nearly three weeks off before NCAA tournament play, scheduled for mid-May.
RESULTS
#3 Florida 4, #15 Vanderbilt 1
Doubles
1. Srebrovic/Borsanyi (UF) d. Taylor/Fish (VU) 8-5
2. Betrand/Newman (VU) d. Benik Suvak (UF) 8-5
3. Revzina/Alexander (UF) d. Ulery/Sveke (VU) 9-8(4)
Singles
1. Diana Srebrovic (UF) vs. Amanda Fish (VU) 6-4, 5-3, dnf
2. Anastasiya Revzina (UF) d. Amanda Taylor (VU) 6-4, 6-2
3. Catherine Nemwan (VU) d. Megan Alexander (UF) 6-0, 6-3
4. Taka Bertrand (VU) vs. Nina Suvak (UF) 3-6, 6-3, 3-2
5. Csilla Borsanyi (UF) d. Courtney Ulery (VU) 3-1, ret.
6. Whitney Benik (UF) d. Liberty Sveke (VU) 6-0, 6-2
Order of finish: 5, 6, 3, 2
