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MADISON, Wisc. – The No. 17 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team fell 6-1 to No. 1 Stanford in the first round of the ITA Indoors tournament Thursday morning.
After sweeping the doubles round, Stanford competitors (2-0) earned victories over Catherine Newman, Caroline Ferrell, and Hannah Blatt to clinch the match win.
Commodore Amanda Taylor earned the team’s only victory against 13th ranked Celia Durkin at No. 3. Taylor held Durkin to just four games in two sets, winning 6-1, 6-3.
“Amanda had an unbelievable win,” Vanderbilt Assistant Coach Meike Babel said. “She played really well. She was focused and just over powered [Durkin].”
Vanderbilt Head Coach Geoff Macdonald had to make last minute lineup changes to accommodate sophomore Courtney Ulery’s absence from the tournament due to illness. With senior Amanda Fish still out with a minor injury, the team only had six healthy and eligible players.
In doubles, sophomore Liberty Sveke and junior Taylor teamed up for the first time since October 2005. The duo dropped a narrow 8-6 pro set to Stanford’s Jessica Nguyen and Lindsay Burdette at No. 2. Commodores Caroline Ferrell and Hannah Blatt, who played a few matches together in the fall, were shutout by Cardinals Whitney Deason and Theresa Logar (8-0).
In singles, Taka Bertrand played at No.1 for only the second time in her Commodore career and freshman Catherine Newman moved to No. 2, her highest lineup rank to date. Freshman Hannah Blatt made her Vanderbilt dual match debut in the contest, playing at No. 6 against Stanford junior Lejla Hodzik. The two battled for three sets before Hodzik sealed the win with a 6-2 set (6-4, 5-7, 6-2).
“We fought well today,” Babel said. “But we’re going to have a tough time the rest of the week. These are the best teams in the country and you have to be at the top of your game. We are down several players and the whole team is a little dinged up. But it will be great to continue experiencing such challenging levels of competition.”
The Commodores (2-3) will follow with two consolation rounds beginning Friday at 9 a.m.
Stanford 6, Vanderbilt 1
Doubles
1. Durkin/Yelsey (S) d. Bertrand/Newman (VU) 8-6
2. Burdette/Nguyen (S) d. Taylor/Sveke (VU) Stanford 8-6
3. Deason/Logar (S) d. Ferrell/Blatt (V) 8-0
Singles
1. #89 Theresa Logar (S) d. #57 Taka Bertrand (VU) 6-3, 6-1
2. Anne Yelsey (S) d. #24 Catherine Newman (VU) 6-3, 6-3
3. #42 Amanda Taylor (VU) d. #13 Celia Durkin (S) 6-1, 6-3
4. #8 Jessica Nguyen (S) d. Caroline Ferrell (VU) 6-3, 6-3
5. Whitney Deason (S) d. Liberty Sveke (VU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Lejla Hodzik (S) d. Hannah Blatt (VU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-2*
Order of finish (singles): 2, 4, 6, 3, 1, 5
* – clinched win
Records: Stanford 2-0, Vanderbilt 2-3
