Alabama
Vanderbilt
Women's Tennis Falls 4-3 to Vanderbilt
3/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
March 26, 2010
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The No. 71 women's tennis team (7-8, 0-5 SEC) dropped a thrilling 4-3 decision to No. 29 Vanderbilt (7-6, 3-2 SEC) on Friday at the University of Alabama Tennis Stadium. The Crimson Tide claimed the doubles point in conference play for the first time this season, but the Commodores were able to claw back in singles to win the match.
"This was certainly a heartbreaker today," head coach Jenny Mainz said. "Our team has done a consistent job with putting it all out there. Everyone fought hard today. The credit certainly goes to Vanderbilt."
Doubles action started off tight, but it was Alabama who appeared to be in control once the matches got deeper into play. Court one was a showdown of nationally ranked pairs, with the No. 60 duo of freshman Alexa Guarachi and sophomore Courtney McLane taking down No. 27 sophomores Jackie Wu and Chelsea Preeg 8-3. Guarachi and McLane were able to break serve four times to dominate the match. Vanderbilt countered with a tight 8-6 win at the No. 3 spot. Senior Paulina Bigos and junior Meritt Emery drew first blood, taking an early 3-1 lead over senior Hannah Blatt and junior Rachael Dillon. However, the Commodore pair would fight back, eventually taking a break lead at 5-4. The servers would struggle the rest of the match, with Blatt and Dillon finally able to serve out the match.
The doubles point was decided by the match on court two, which ended in a tiebreak. Freshman Antonia Foehse and senior Alice Tunaru earned a break lead at 4-3 and were able to break for a second time at 6-4 to go up two breaks. Sophomore Erica Robertson and senior Catherine Newman did not give up easily though, fighting back to win four games in a row for an 8-7 lead. Foehse held serve to force the tiebreak, where the Tide tandem played flawless tennis to win seven points to zero and claim the doubles point.
"I thought we played a great doubles point today," Mainz said. "That certainly helped our confidence."
In singles, Vanderbilt would claim three easy wins to get back into the match quickly. At the No. 3 position, No. 24 Wu cruised to an easy 6-1, 6-1 victory over Emery. Wu broke to open the match, setting the tone by stepping in and taking control of the points with her sharp returns. Seconds after Wu got the Commodores on the board, Blatt gave her team a 2-1 lead by defeating Tunaru 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 6 spot. The match started with three consecutive breaks before Blatt ran away with the set. In the second, Blatt took a 3-0 lead behind two breaks of serve. Tunaru was only able to break back once in the set at 1-4, but it wasn't enough.
Vanderbilt took a 3-1 lead after claiming the battle of ranked players on court one. The opening set between No. 38 Newman and No. 39 Guarachi was close, as the players traded breaks early in the set. Newman broke at 3-3 and was able to hold serve the rest of the set to take it 6-4. Guarachi faded quickly in the second, spraying numerous errors around the court to fall 6-1 in the second set.
Alabama was forced to win the final three singles matches of the day, but had won the first set in all three matches. Bigos made the score 3-2 when she took down Dillon 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 5 position. Bigos fell behind a break to open the match, but fought back to break twice in taking the first set. In the second, it was Bigos who broke to open and was able to break again for a comfortable 4-1 lead. Dillon was able to break back once, but Bigos broke at 5-3 to win the match.
McLane evened the score at 3-3 just a few moments after the completion of Bigos' match, winning 6-1, 6-4 over No. 76 Preeg on court two. McLane breezed through the first set, taking it 6-1, but found herself down an early break in the second. McLane was able to get the set back on serve, managing to break again at 4-4 to serve for the match. Preeg battled to hang in the match, forcing the game to deuce, but McLane ultimately served out the victory.
The contest at the No. 4 spot was the decisive match, so it was only fitting it was the lone three-set match on the day. The first set was a struggle for both Foehse and junior Keilly Ulery on serve, as there were five breaks in the set. Foehse served for the set at 5-4, but could not hold. She broke right back for another opportunity to serve out the set, which she did successfully this time. Ulery bounced back in the second after falling behind an early break, finding a groove on serve and still attacking in her return games to take the second set 6-2.
Foehse jumped ahead 2-0 in the final set, but Ulery battled back to win three games in a row for a 3-2 lead. Momentum swung once again, this time in Foehse's favor, as she went ahead in the set once again. She served for the set at 5-4, but Ulery's game was more consistent, allowing her to break to stay in the match. Foehse was forced to serve trailing 6-5 to stay in the match, but she held successfully to force a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, it was Ulery who was hitting with authority and making no mistakes, which allowed her to win it seven points to two and clinch the match for her team.
"In the end Keilly Ulery stepped up and took the match," Mainz added. "Antonia (Foehse) left it all out there though. She played a gutsy match, but came up just short. We need to keep moving forward. We've got a lot of chances in front of us."
Next up, Alabama hits the road, traveling to Lexington, Ky., to take on Kentucky Sunday, March 28. The Tide and Wildcats will face off at noon (CST).
RESULTS
Doubles
1. No. 60 Guarachi/McLane (UA) def. No. 27 Wu/Preeg (VU) 8-3
2. Foehse/Tunaru (UA) def. Robertson/Newman (VU) 9-8(0)
3. Blatt/Dillon (VU) def. Bigos/Emery (UA) 8-6
Order of Finish: 1,3,2
Singles
1. No. 38 Catherine Newman (VU) def. No. 39 Alexa Guarachi (UA) 6-4, 6-1
2. Courtney McLane (UA) def. No. 76 Chelsea Preeg (VU) 6-1, 6-4
3. No. 24 Jackie Wu (VU) def. Meritt Emery (UA) 6-1, 6-1
4. Keilly Ulery (VU) def. Antonia Foehse (UA) 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(2)
5. Paulina Bigos (UA) def. Rachael Dillon (VU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Hannah Blatt (VU) def. Alice Tunaru (UA) 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 3,6,1,5,2,4*
Players Mentioned
