AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 36 Auburn women's tennis team opened the home portion of the Southeastern Conference schedule Friday afternoon, dropping a 4-1 decision to No. 5 Vanderbilt at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
The Tigers (13-5, 0-3 SEC) put together several strong matches in singles play, including a win over a ranked opponent, but were unable to overcome an early deficit to a Vanderbilt lineup that featured four ranked singles players and two ranked doubles teams.
Alannah Griffin, playing at the No. 4 singles spot, provided Auburn's lone win on the day, earning a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Vanderbilt's No. 32 Amanda Meyer for her first win over a ranked opponent this season.
Auburn fell behind early after dropping the doubles point, but put together several strong matches in singles play. Facing a pair of top-10 opponents on the top two singles lines, Jaeda Daniel and Madeline Meredith were pushing their opponents to the brink before play was halted as Vanderbilt clinched the match with wins on courts 3, 5, and 6. Meredith dropped her first set in a tiebreaker but was leading 4-0 in the second against No. 8 Christina Rocca. Daniel was on serve in the second set with No. 3 Fernanda Contreras whe the match was halted.
The Tigers will be back in action at 11 a.m. CT Sunday when they host No. 18 Kentucky at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. Fans in attendance will receive an Auburn Tennis yo-yo, and the team and coaches will host a free kids' clinic immediately following the match.
For the latest on Auburn women's tennis, follow @AuburnWTennis on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
#5 Vanderbilt 4, #36 Auburn 1
Singles
1. #72 Jaeda Daniel (AU) vs. #3 Fernanda Contreras (VU), 2-6, 4-5 unfinished
2. Madeline Meredith (AU) vs. #8 Christina Rocca (VU), 6-7, 4-0 unfinished
3. #67 Georgia Drummy (VU) def. Taylor Russo (AU), 6-2, 6-3
4. Alannah Griffin (AU) def. #32 Amanda Meyer (VU), 6-1, 6-4
5. Carolyn Campana (VU) def. Yu Chen (AU), 6-3, 6-0
6. Summer Dvorak (VU) def. Lindsay Song (AU), 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 3, 5, 4, 6
Doubles
1. #64 Daniel/Meredith (AU) vs. Kurtz/Smith (VU), 1-5 unfinished
2. #51 Drummy/Rosca (VU) def. Griffin/Chen (AU), 6-0
3. #30 Dvorak/Contreras (VU) def. Song/Russo (AU), 6-0
Order of finish: 2, 3