The Vanderbilt women's tennis team won five of the six singles matches after capturing the doubles point to earn the 6-1 win over No. 60 Mississippi State Friday at the outside courts of the Currey Tennis Center. The Commodores have now won three straight SEC dual matches and improve to 8-5 overall and 4-2 in SEC play.
Vanderbilt now leads the all-time series with Mississippi State 22-7, including winners of 19 straight over the Lady Bulldogs. Head coach Geoff Macdonald is a perfect 16-0 against MSU as Vanderbilt's head coach.
"I was pleased with the way our team competed today," said head coach Geoff Macdonald. "Any time you can pick up a win in conference is big and we beat a good team today in Mississippi State."
The 19th-ranked Commodores won the doubles point for the fourth straight match as Vanderbilt picked up wins at the number two and three doubles position. Vanderbilt's Courtney and Keilly Ulery improved to 8-1 in dual play with an 8-3 win over MSU's Daniela Juskova and Radka Ferancova. Vanderbilt's pair of Catherine Newman and Chelsea Preeg clinched the doubles point for the Commodores, notching their seventh win of the season with an 8-3 win over MSU's Natalia Mayuk and Olesya Tsigvintseva.
The Lady Bulldogs tied things up at 1-1 when Keilly Ulery was forced to retire due to an injury to her foot. The rest of the Vanderbilt squad picked up the extra weight as they won the remaining five singles matches. Newman clinched the match with a decisive victory at No. 1 singles.
At the conclusion of the match, senior day celebrations were held to honor Courtney Ulery. She received a framed picture along with flowers for her career contributions.
"Courtney has had a great career at Vanderbilt and it was a special day to honor her for all of her accomplishments and efforts that she has given our program," Macdonald said. "She has been successful on the court and in the classroom while bringing a great deal of pride to our program."
Press Release courtesy of Travis Young
