MADISON -- BYU started strong but couldn't hold on as the No. 22 women's tennis team (5-2) lost 5-2 to No. 7 Vanderbilt (4-1) in the consolation round of the USTA-ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The Commodores rallied with five singles wins to come from behind to defeat the Cougars.
After narrowly dropping the doubles point in a tiebreaker a day earlier, the Cougars came with full force to their match with Vanderbilt. BYU left no opportunity for a tiebreaker to decide their fate, cruising through doubles and taking the point with two straight wins. The duos of Sofia Holden and Olga Boulytcheva and Jennifer Miccoli and Anastasia Sourkova handed their opponents 8-4 and 8-5 losses respectively. The Cougars lost the third doubles match, but having already clinched, that victory went for naught.
Looking to use their momentum from doubles, the Cougars came out strong but found Vanderbilt wasn't about to give up. The Commodores knotted the score at 1-1 behind Caroline Ferrell's straight-set victory over sophomore Dolly Chang 7-5, 6-2. The Cougars quickly responded, though, with No. 33 Olga Boulytcheva notching a win of her own over Amanda Fish, 6-3, 6-4 to put BYU back on top.
That was the last time the Cougars would have the lead. The Commodores answered back--this time with a rally--winning three straight to seal the win. The run started on court No. 3 with a two-set tiebreaker going Vanderbilt's way. Quickly following that victory No. 47 Taka Bertrand defeated No. 95 Lauren Jones and Courtney Ulery was too much for Sofia Holden, giving the Commodores the points they needed for the win. Both Bertrand and Ulery have won both their singles matches in the tournament.
BYU will be back in action tomorrow at 9 a.m. CT when they will face No. 8 Baylor in the consolation round. The two teams last met in Provo in the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament, where Baylor handed BYU a 4-1 loss. You can follow the match by clicking on the link below.
USTA-ITA National Indoor Championships
RESULTS
Singles
1. Taylor/Yahner (Vandy) def. Jones/Chang (BYU) 8-4
2. Miccoli/Sourkova (BYU) def. Fish/Bertrand (Vandy) 8-5*
3. Holden/Boulytcheva (BYU) def. Sueke/Ulery (Vandy) 8-4
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Doubles
1. No. 33 Olga Boulytcheva (BYU) def. Amanda Fish (Vandy) 6-3, 6-4
2. No. 47 Taka Bertrand (Vandy) def. No. 95 Lauren Jones (BYU) 7-5, 6-4
3. Amanda Taylor (Vandy) def. Anastasia Sourkova (BYU) 6-4, 7-6 (2)
4. Courtney Ulery (Vandy) def. Sofia Holden (BYU) 6-1, 6-3*
5. Caroline Ferrell (Vandy) def. Dolly Chang (BYU) 7-5, 6-2
6. Maggie Yahner (Vandy) def. Rana El Derwy (BYU) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-2)
Order of Finish: 5, 1, 3, 2, 4, 6
*Clinched win