Vanderbilt's women's tennis team jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after clinching the doubles point but it wasn't enough to hold off the sixth-ranked Yellow Jackets, as the Commodores fell 4-3 to Georgia Tech at the Currey Tennis Center Wednesday. The loss to Georgia Tech, an Atlantic Coast Conference school, was just Vanderbilt's second in the last 10 meetings between the teams.
"I thought our team showed improvement in a lot of areas today," said coach Geoff Macdonald. "We are showing progress in doubles and have made some strides in singles. I want to commend Georgia Tech on the way they played in singles. This is a very solid club that we lost to today."
The Commodores (5-5, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) started off the meet well as they took two of the three doubles matches against the Jackets. Vanderbilt's No. 1 pair of Heather Steinbauer and Jackie Wu picked up their second win over a ranked doubles opponent Wednesday as they topped Georgia Tech's team of Noelle Hickey and Christy Striplin, 8-6. After falling at the number two doubles slot, the doubles point came down to the No. 3 slot. After falling behind early in the match Vanderbilt's duo of Courtney and Keilly Ulery stormed back to take the match 8-6, clinching the doubles point for the Commodores.
The Yellow Jackets (11-5, 4-1) knotted the match score at 1-1 when Sasha Krupina defeated Steinbauer, 6-2, 6-3. The Commodores retook the lead at 2-1, when Wu cruised to a straight set win over Noelle Hickey, 6-3, 6-2, for her third consecutive singles win. With the win, Wu improved to 21-7 overall and 6-3 in dual play.
After the Yellow Jackets had clinched the match and led 4-2, senior Courtney Ulery posted an impressive 6-3, 6-1 win over Lynn Blau, making the final score 4-3 in favor of Georgia Tech.
The Commodores will return to Southeastern Conference action for the first time in 12 days as they travel to Auburn, Ala. on Mar. 27 for a 4 p.m. match with the Tigers.
Press Release courtesy of Travis Young
