NASHVILLE, Tenn. — With a near capacity crowd at the Brownlee Currey Tennis Complex squirming with every shot, Vanderbilt’s Taka Bertrand battled Monika Dancevic of Georgia for 2 hours, 21-minutes before the Bulldog won a tie-breaker to give the 10th ranked Bulldogs a 4-3 victory.
It had been a classic Southeastern Conference match-up between the two national powers when it all came down to the No. 3 singles match. Bertand, a senior from Great Falls, Va., and Dancevic, a junior from Niagara Falls, Ontario but on a tremendous display of grit and talent.
Bertand took the first set in 6-3 order but Dancevic came back in the second to win going away, 6-1. That set the stage for a memorable dual that saw Bertand jump out to a 4-1 lead, only to see it gradually slip away.
Wearing a sweat-drenched, gold Vanderbilt t-shirt that read “Fight Dores” on its back, Bertrand proved she was worthy of the slogan even if her 11-match singles streak came to a halt.
“Taka has been an example of how to compete for our team her entire career,” said fellow senior Amanda Taylor, who won both her doubles and singles match. “She lays her heart on the line when she takes the court. We all hurt for her but there is nobody else we would rather see out there with the match on the line than Taka.”
Head Coach Geoff Macdonald agreed.
“I am very proud of our team,” Macdonald said, “and Taka Bertrand has the biggest heart in the world. Both teams fought hard and both teams played incredibly good tennis.”
Taylor, playing at No. 1 singles, brushed past Kelley Hyndman, 6-1, 6-2 and teamed with Courtney Ulery to take the top doubles match.
“We are getting better as a team with each match,” Taylor noted, “and I am trying to get with that momentum. In the doubles, Courtney played very well.”
The Commodores, who dropped to 6-4 in SEC play and 16-4 overall, also got a victory from freshman Keilly Ulery, who topped Cameron Ellis, 6-4, 6-2.
Vanderbilt took the doubles point with the No. 3 team of Bertrand and Keilly Ulery topping their Bulldog opponents, 8-3, in just 42 minutes.
However, things were much tighter on the other two courts. Vanderbilt’s No. 1 pair of Taylor and Courtney Ulery fell behind, three games to two, before gaining momentum and spinning off six games in a row. It wasn’t as easy as it appeared. The turning point in the match seemed to fall in the grueling eighth game. The advantage swung back and forth, back and forth until the Commodores finally broke through. They then reeled off the last three games in relatively quick fashion.
Over on Court 2, Catherine Newman and Caroline Ferrell trailed much of their tight match before pulling even at six games all. They won the tie-breaker 7-5 to make it a clean sweep of doubles for the day and the weekend, having shutout Tennessee Friday.
“Courtney and I learned to let go of our mistakes in that long doubles game,” Taylor said afterwards, “and that really helped us. I thought our win in that next game to go up 6-3 was the key.”
With the victory, Georgia improves its record to 8-2 in the SEC and 16-4 overall.
Vanderbilt closes out its home season next Saturday against Kentucky. The match begins at noon on the Currey Courts.
Sunday’s Results:
No. 10 Georgia 4 def. No. 13 Vanderbilt 3
Doubles:
1. No. 54 Amanda Taylor/Courtney Ulery def. Kelley Hyndman/Monika Dancevic – 8-3
2. Catherine Newman/Caroline Ferrell def. Yvette Hyndman/Naoka Ueshima – 8-7 (5)
3. Taka Bertrand/Keilly Ulery def. Cameron Ellis/Adrienne Elsberry – 8-3
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles:
1. No. 23 Amanda Taylor (V) def.K. Hyndman – 6-1, 6-2
2. Y. Hyndman (V) def. No. 47 Catherine Newman – 6-4, 6-1
3. Dancevic (G) def. No. 96 Taka Bertrand – 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4)
4. Ueshima (G) def. No. 61 Courtney Ulery – 6-1, 6-2
5. Keilly Ulery (V) def. Ellis – 6-4, 6-2
6. Elsberry (G) def. Caroline Ferrell – 6-2, 7-6 (2)
Order of finish: 4, 1, 5, 2, 6, 3
Updated team records: Georgia (16-4, 8-2 SEC); Vanderbilt (16-4, 6-4 SEC)
