University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Women's Tennis Falls to #11 Vanderbilt 6-1
March 13, 2015 | Women's Tennis
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Lady Vols (8-9, 0-5 SEC) fell 6-1 to their instate rivals of the No. 11 Vanderbilt Commodores (9-4, 4-0 SEC) on Friday at Goodfriend Tennis Center.
In doubles, the sophomore duo of Eve Repic and Laurence Guevremont remained in their losing slump as they fell to the No. 30 team of Ashleigh Antal and Astra Sharma 8-2 on court 2. Junior Tiffany Tavares and sophomore Victoria Olivarez came back from being down 7-3 to make it 7-5, including a 10-minute battle for an advantage point in one game. It wasn't enough for the Lady Vols as Frances Atlick and Marie Casares won the match 8-5 and clinched the doubles point for Vanderbilt.
Olivarez and Tavares weren't the only ones to make a comeback. On court 1, seniors Joanna Henderson and Caitlyn Williams were down 5-2 before winning four straight games to take a 6-5 lead over the No. 15 team of Sydney Campbell and Courtney Colton. Campbell and Colton then won two straight matches to make it 7-6 when the doubles point was clinched, forcing the match to go unfinished.
In singles, Tennessee's slow start continued as Vanderbilt jumped out to early leads by winning the first set on every court besides court 1. Tavares fell to Antal 6-1, 6-1, Repic lost to No. 77 Sharma 6-0, 6-0 and sophomore Ashlee Boles dropped her match 6-2, 6-1 to No. 72 Casares, clinching the match for Vanderbilt.
The two teams decided to play out all of the matches instead of ending. Guevremont and Olivarez both dropped their matches on the day, leaving Henderson and No. 9 Campbell on court 1. Henderson took the first set of the match in a tiebreaker after going back and forth. Then, Campbell took the second set, forcing a 10-point tiebreaker for the third set.
In the tiebreaker, Henderson closed the match after Campbell hit a couple of balls in the net, giving her the 7-6, 4-6, 1-0 (7) win and her first career top-10 victory in singles.
"I have been playing well, but it has just been the issue of me getting over the finish line," Henderson said about her ranked win. "It was exciting for that to happen today. Despite the team loss, I felt like I made a lot of strides. In doubles, Caitlyn and I are getting there. It is just a matter of finishing out these matches."
As for the team, co-head coach Mike Patrick reiterated they are trying to weather the storm of adversity against them.
With one month left in the season, the Lady Vols still have work to do. The biggest areas of focus for this young team are closing out matches and competing until the end as well as being more consistent throughout the entire match.
The key for the team as they move forward is to simply work through the good and bad times.
Tennessee will be back in action on Sunday as they face the Kentucky Wildcats at Barksdale Stadium in search of their first conference win of the season.
"Despite all of the losses, we have had a lot of close matches in the SEC," Henderson said. "We have to remain positive week after week and learn from every match. We have a big match this Sunday against Kentucky. We have everything to play for at our own place. I am excited to get back out there and play."
#11 Vanderbilt 6, Tennessee 1
Singles
1. Joanna Henderson, UT, def. #9 Sydney Campbell, VU, 7-6, 4-6, 1-0 (7)
2. #77 Astra Sharma, VU, def. Eve Repic, UT, 6-0, 6-0
3. #84 Courtney Colton, VU, def. Laurence Guevremont, UT, 6-2, 6-2
4. #96 Frances Atlick, VU, def. Victoria Olivarez, UT, 6-2, 6-4
5. Ashleigh Antal, VU, def. Tiffany Tavares, UT, 6-1, 6-1
6. #72 Marie Casares, VU, def. Ashlee Boles, UT, 6-2, 6-1
Doubles
1. #33 Henderson/Williams, UT, vs. #15 Campbell/Colton, VU, 6-7 unf.
2. #30 Antal/Sharma, VU, def. Repic/Guevremont, UT, 8-2
3. Atlick/Casares, VU, def. Tavares/Olivarez, UT, 8-5
Order of Finish Doubles (2, 3); Singles (5, 2, 6, 3, 4, 1)
