GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 14 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team (7-1) dropped its first match of the 2008 season on Friday afternoon as it fell 5-2 to No. 7 Florida (7-1) at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville. Senior Amanda Taylor and sophomore Catherine Newman led the way for the Commodores, picking up wins in singles.
The Commodores lost the doubles point for only the second time of the spring 2008 season. At No. 1 doubles, Florida’s 15th-ranked tandem of Megan Alexander and Marrit Boonstra defeated the 33rd-ranked team of Taka Bertrand and Catherine Newman 8-4. Florida’s Julia Cohen and Anastasia Revzina clinched the doubles point for the Gators winning 8-2 over Keilly Ulery and Caroline Ferrell at the third doubles position. Vanderbilt’s Amanda Taylor and Courtney Ulery lost 8-4 at No. 2 doubles to the team of Whitney Benik and Lolita Frangulyan.
In singles, Ferrell suffered her first loss of the spring season, falling to Frangulyan 6-2, 6-0 at No. 6 singles. Benik gave Florida its third point of the match at the fourth singles position with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Bertrand. Boonstra clinched the match for the Gators with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Keilly Ulery at No. 5 singles.
Taylor, ranked 29th in singles, gave Vanderbilt its first point of the match with a straight-set win over No. 74 Cohen 7-5, 6-2. The win improves Taylor to 7-1 on the year at No. 1 singles.
No. 48 Courtney Ulery saw her school-record, 20-match winning streak come to an end against No. 58 Alexander. After losing the first set 6-3, Ulery bounced back to win the second set 6-0. However, Alexander won the decisive third set 6-4.
No. 43 Newman closed out the match for the Commodores with a 6-7 (6), 7-5, 10-7 win over No. 26 Borsanyi at the second singles position.
Florida now leads the overall series 34-2. The Commodores are still winless against the Gators in Gainesville.
Vanderbilt returns to action on Sunday as it continues its opening SEC weekend road swing, traveling to No. 30 South Carolina. First serve is slated for 11 a.m. and live stats for the match will be available on uscsports.com. A complete recap of the match will be available on vucommodores.com.
No. 7 Florida 5, No. 14 Vanderbilt 2
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex – Gainesville, Fla.
Doubles Play:
1. No. 15 Megan Alexander/Marrit Boonstra (UF) def. No. 33 Taka Bertrand/Catherine Newman (VU) – 8-4
2. Whitney Benik/Lolita Frangulyan (UF) def. Amanda Taylor/Courtney Ulery (VU) – 8-4
3. Julia Cohen/Anastasia Revzina (UF) def. Keilly Ulery/Caroline Ferrell (VU) – 8-2
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles Play:
1. No. 29 Amanda Taylor (VU) def. No. 74 Julia Cohen (UF) – 7-5, 6-2
2. No. 43 Catherine Newman (VU) def. No. 26 Csilla Borsanyi (UF) – 6-7 (6), 7-5, 10-7
3. No. 58 Megan Alexander (UF) def. No. 48 Courtney Ulery (VU) – 6-3, 0-6, 6-4
4. Whitney Benik (UF) def. Taka Bertrand (VU) – 6-3, 6-2
5. Marrit Boonstra (UF) def. Keilly Ulery (VU) – 6-2, 6-4
6. Lolita Frangulyan (UF) def. Caroline Ferrell (VU) – 6-2, 6-0
Order of Finish: 6, 4, 5, 1, 3, 2
Updated Team Records: Vanderbilt 7-1; Florida 7-1
