The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team lived up to its No. 2 ranking, defeating No. 33 Texas A&M, 4-0, today at the Currey Tennis Center.
It was the fifth consecutive victory for the Commodores, who improve to 16-3 overall and move into a tied with Florida for second place in the Southeastern Conference standings at 9-1 in league play. The Aggies, facing their second consecutive top 10 opponent, fall to 15-6, including 5-5 in SEC matches.
“All credit to Vanderbilt as they simply outplayed us,” A&M head coach Mark Weaver said. “We obviously knew coming in that we would have our hands full against them and needed to play at a very high level in all the matches. Unfortunately we were not able to find that gear.”
Vanderbilt won the first two doubles matches to be completed, with Amanda Meyer and Christina Rosca being first off after defeating A&M’s freshman duo of Riley McQuaid and Tatiana Makarova at the No. 2 line. Fernanda Contreras and Summer Dvorak then clinched the doubles point for the Commodores, defeating Dorthea Faa-Hviding and Macarena Olivares, 6-2, at No. 3.
A&M’s 52nd-ranked tandem of seniors Domenica Gonzalez and Eva Paalma had fought back to take a 4-3 lead over 56th-ranked Emily Smith and Emma Kurtz at No. 1 when the point was decided and the match was stopped.
The Commodores won the first set on all six singles courts, although Olivares, the reigning SEC Player of the Week and ranked 77th in singles, put up a good fight against No. 3 Contreras at the No. 2 line before dropping the first set, 7-5. Makarova also was in a battle with Kurtz at No. 5 but also narrowly fell, 7-5, in the opening set.
Meyer, No. 118 in singles, put Vanderbilt ahead, 2-0, with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over McQuaid at No. 4, and 40th-ranked Rosca gave the Commodores a 3-0 lead with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Paalma at No. 3. Dvorak then clinched the win for the Commodores with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Iulia Ivascu at No. 6.
Olivares had a 4-0 second-set lead over Contreras when the Commodores clinched, and the match was abandoned. Makarova was trailing her second set, 4-1, and Gonzalez, who was facing ninth-ranked Astra Sharma at the No. 1 line, was down, 6-3, 5-2, when play was stopped.
The Aggies continue their regular season-ending four-match road swing at No. 20 Kentucky on Saturday. First serve against the Wildcats is at 11 a.m. (12 p.m. ET) at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington. A&M closes out the regular season at No. 15 Auburn on April 13 and at Alabama on April 15. The SEC Tournament is April 18-22 in Knoxville, Tennessee.
