No. 18 Arkansas Topped By No. 5 Vanderbilt

Box Score (PDF)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 18 Arkansas women’s tennis team was defeated 5-2 by No. 5 Vanderbilt on Sunday at Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center.

Vanderbilt (13-5, 8-1 Southeastern Conference) won doubles and earned four singles wins en route to the team victory.

Arkansas (14-7, 4-5 SEC) finished strong, despite its slow start. The Razorbacks won two of the final three matches in singles action, picking up points from junior and No. 121-ranked Léolia Jeanjean at No. 3 and freshman Giulia Pairone at No. 5.

Jeanjean earned her second victory against a ranked opponent this season, defeating Vanderbilt’s No. 93 Christina Rosca 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 and improving her dual-match record to 14-2, including a 5-1 mark against SEC competition. Pairone outlasted the Commodore’s Georgina Sellyn 4-6, 6-4, 1-0, pushing her dual-match record to 12-3 (6-3 SEC).

The Commodores gained a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point with victories at the No. 3 and No. 1 positions, respectively. Vanderbilt’s Fernanda Contreras and Rosca defeated Jeanjean and sophomore Agne Cepelyte 6-0 at No. 3, and the Commodores’ No. 8-ranked team of Astra Sharma and Emily Smith clinched the point with its 6-2 win over the Razorbacks’ No. 38-ranked pair of Pairone and senior co-captain Shannon Hudson.

In singles, Contreras and Sharma gave the Commodores a 3-0 lead with wins at No. 6 and No. 1, respectively. Contreras defeated Arkansas senior co-captain Sasha Shkorupeieva 6-1, 6-2, while Sharma, who is the No. 5-ranked singles player in the nation, won 6-2, 6-1 over No. 48 Hudson.

No. 12 Sydney Campbell clinched the team victory for Vanderbilt with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Arkansas sophomore and No. 115 Ana Oparenovic at No. 2.

Play continued at the No. 3-5 spots after the clinch. Jeanjean put the Razorbacks on the board with her win at No. 3. Vanderbilt’s Emma Kurtz followed with a 7-5, 6-3 victory against Razorback junior Mia Jurasic at No. 4. Pairone closed out scoring with her victory at No. 5.

Up Next
Arkansas will return to Fayetteville to host No. 3 Georgia at 6 p.m. on April 7 and No. 23 Tennessee at noon on April 9 for Senior Day.