Terriers Lose To Vanderbilt In NCAA Tournament Opener
May 9, 2003 | Women's Tennis
The 2002-03 season ended on Friday (May 9th) for the Terrier women's tennis team as it dropped a 4-0 decision to the nation's 15th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores in the first round of the NCAA Division 1 Women's Tennis Tournament. Vanderbilt, which was the 10th seed in the tournament, hosted the match at the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center in Nashville, TN.
It marked the fifth straight appearance in the national tournament for the Terriers, who had been eliminated in previous years by Pepperdine, UCLA, and Stanford. In the meantime, Vanderbilt was marking its ninth straight appearance in the post-season competition and was hosting an NCAA Tournament Regional for the sixth straight year. Runnerup to Stanford in the 2001 NCAAs, the Commodores are hoping to reach the Sweet 16 for the sixth straight year.
With the win, Vanderbilt advances to tomorrow's (Saturday) second-round matchup against Notre Dame, which defeated Missouri, 4-1, in the region's other first-round match.
The Lady Commodores opened the match against the Terriers by taking the point in doubles play. In fact, they posted identical 8-0 scores at both numbers one and two where Sarah Riske and Aleke Tsoubanos defeated junior Elena deMendoza (Madrid, Spain) and freshman Laura Ahmes (East Sarasota, FL) at number one and Kelly Schmandt and Audra Falk blanked junior Lindsey Dynof (Colts Neck, NJ) and freshman Aimee Charest (Somerset).
At number three doubles, Terrier senior captain Alana Marcu (Leonia, NJ) and junior Elisa Glas (Irun, Spain) enjoyed the most success as they trailed Annie Menees and Kori Scott by just a 5-3 margin. However, the match ended at that point, as the Lady Commodores had already been assured of the doubles' point.
Both Riske and Tsoubanos entered the tournament as one of the nation's top collegiate doubles team. An All-SEC Second Team selection, they had been ranked as high as number one this year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and entered this weekend ranked third.
Riske, whose win in doubles marked her 106th doubles win during her illustrious four-year career, went on to defeat Dynof, 6-1, 6-0, at number one singles for the 101st singles win of her career.
Vanderbilt added two more singles wins to assure itself of the four points necessary for the victory. At number three, Schmandt defeated Ahmes, 6-1, 6-0. Then, Menees clinched the victory at number six singles with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Charest.
There were three other singles matches still on the court but were unnecessary to complete. At number two, deMendoza lost the first set to Tsoubanos, 6-2, but was tied in the second 1-1 when the match was completed.
At number four, Marcu dropped the first set to Falk, 6-3, and was trailing in the second set, 4-0. Finally, at number five, Glas lost to Ashley Schellhas, 6-3, in the first set and there was no score in the second set.
"We played extremely hard and fought as hard as we could," Terrier assistant coach Chrissy Cerretani said after the match.
Cerretani was in charge of the team as head coach Lesley Sheehan remained in Boston with back problems.
"Vanderbilt simply played very well," said the assistant coach. "They are a very solid team, top to bottom, and very strong in doubles. They show plenty of fight and heart.
"Coming to Nashville and playing Vanderbilt has been an unbelievable experience for our team," concluded Cerretani. "This is our fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament, and we are still looking to advance. Each year, we have definitely been a little better. I look at this as another stepping stone to where we want to be."
