NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The 20th-ranked Vanderbilt women’s tennis team picked up its first Southeastern conference win of the season with an impressive 7-0 sweep of No. 21 LSU on Sunday afternoon at the Currey Tennis Center. Vanderbilt improves to 9-3 overall and 1-3 in conference play while LSU drops to 8-4 and 3-1 in SEC play.
“We’ve been playing some fantastic teams,” Vanderbilt women’s tennis head coach Geoff Macdonald said. “A couple of matches didn’t go our way. I firmly believe we’re a great team and we showed it today. I’m really proud of our team and the way we fought today.”
The Commodores won the doubles point for the first time in five matches. Caroline Ferrell and Catherine Newman picked up their first win as a pair at the No. 2 doubles position, defeating LSU’s Hannah Robinson and Tiffany Tucker 8-2. Taka Bertrand and Keilly Ulery clinched the point for the `Dores with an 8-6 win over Staten Spencer and Nicole Kantor at the third doubles position. Amanda Taylor and Courtney Ulery improved to 10-2 in doubles with an 8-5 win victory over Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg at No. 1 doubles.
“Other than Florida, I really felt we could have won the doubles point in the last few matches,” Macdonald said. “We’ll get to work on it and try to continue to get better.”
At No. 3 singles, Bertrand extended the Commodore lead to 2-0. Bertrand won her third match on the week, defeating Kantor 6-0, 6-0 to improve to 10-2 in dual matches on the season and 3-1 in SEC play.
“Taka’s really beginning to play well,” Macdonald added. “She’s also doing a great job of leading. She’s doing a heck of a job for us.”
Courtney Ulery brought the Commodores within one point of clinching the match with an easy 6-1, 6-2 win over Robinson at the fourth singles position. The win was Ulery’s first in conference matches and improved her overall singles record on the season to 22-3.
Newman clinched the first SEC win of the year for the Black and Gold with a victory over Hedberg at No. 2 singles. Newman was down 5-2 in the opening set, but came back to win the next five games to win the first set 7-5. Newman won the second set 6-2.
Keilly Ulery picked up the fifth point for the Commodores at No. 5 singles. After dropping the first set 6-2, Ulery evened the match with a 6-3 win in the second set. Ulery won the first three games of the third set and cruised to a 6-2 win in the deciding set.
At No. 1 singles, No. 35 Taylor defeated the 18th-ranked Falcon for the second time on the season, winning a three-set match 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Ferrell closed out the match with an impressive straight-set victory over Kylie Adamek 6-2, 6-2 at No. 6 singles.
Vanderbilt now leads the overall series against the Tigers 18-14, including winning the 11 last matches played between the two schools.
The Commodores return to action on Thursday as they play host to No. 71 Furman. Opening serve at the Currey Tennis Center is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. (CST).
Sunday’s Results:
No. 20 Vanderbilt 7 def. No. 21 LSU 0
Doubles:
1. Amanda Taylor/Courtney Ulery (VU) def. Megan Falcon/Mykala Hedberg (LSU) – 8-5
2. Caroline Ferrell/Catherine Newman (VU) def. Hannah Robinson/Tiffany Tucker (LSU) – 8-2
3. Taka Bertrand/Keilly Ulery (VU) def. Staten Spencer/Nicole Kantor (LSU) – 8-6
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles:
1. No. 35 Amanda Taylor (VU) def. No. 18 Megan Falcon (LSU) – 2-6, 7-5, 6-1
2. No. 37 Catherine Newman (VU) def. Mykala Hedberg (LSU) – 7-5, 6-2
3. Taka Bertrand (VU) def. Nicole Kantor (LSU) – 6-0, 6-0
4. No. 51 Courtney Ulery (VU) def. Hannah Robinson (LSU) – 6-1, 6-2
5. Keilly Ulery (VU) def. Staten Spencer (LSU) – 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. Caroline Ferrell (VU) def. Kylie Adamek (LSU) – 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3, 4, 2, 5, 1, 6
Updated Team Records: Vanderbilt (9-3, 1-3 SEC); LSU (8-4, 3-1 SEC)
