Feb. 19, 2010
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team returns to the hard courts this week for the first time in three weeks as they travel to the northeast to compete against two of the IVY-league’s best teams. The Commodores (3-1, 0-0 SEC) will face No. 63 Princeton on Saturday at 11 a.m., CT before traveling to New Haven, Conn., to play 36th-ranked Yale at 11 a.m., on Sunday.
Vanderbilt fell 4-3 in a hard fought match to in-state rival Tennessee in the championship match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Knoxville. VU fell behind early 1-0 after dropping the double point to the Lady Vols. However, the Commodores got key singles wins from Jackie Wu, Chelsea Preeg and Hannah Blatt to tie things up at 3-3 before falling in the final match.
The Commodores hold wins over Colorado (6-1), Denver (6-1) and 27th-ranked TCU (4-3). The ‘Dores have four players ranked in the latest ITA singles rankings led by Wu at No. 32. Catherine Newman is 52nd, while Preeg is 79th and Heather Steinbauer is 84th.
A Closer Look at Yale
The Bulldogs (8-1) return six players, including five starters from a year ago. They are led by seniors Sarah Lederhandler and Jessica Rhee. Yale is coming off a first-place finish at the ECAC Indoor Championships at Harvard University where they picked up dual wins over Boston University, Harvard and Dartmouth. The Bulldogs will put their 22-match home winning streak on the line this weekend when they hosts No. 32 William and Mary (4-3) on Saturday before hosting the ‘Dores on Sunday.
A Closer Look at Princeton
The 63rd-ranked Tigers are 4-3 on the season with wins over Temple (7-0), Seton Hall (7-0), Denver (5-2) and Columbia (7-0). PU started the season 3-0 before dropping three of its last four matches. The Tigers went 1-2 last weekend at the ECAC Championships in Cambridge, Mass. The Tigers swept their opening match with Columbia before falling to Dartmouth and Harvard on Saturday and Sunday. Princeton is led in singles and doubles by Taylor Marable and Hilary Bartlett. Marable and Partlett also team up in doubles action as they are ranked as the No. 26 duo in the country.
