FAYETTEVILLE — Despite Arkansas winning the doubles point and picking up wins over ranked opponents at the top two singles spots, No. 4 Vanderbilt edged the Razorbacks, 4-3, on Sunday afternoon at the George M. Billingsley Tennis Center.
“No question we showed today we can play with anyone in the nation,” head coach Michael Hegarty said. “Full credit to Vanderbilt who came up big in the clutch.”
The Razorbacks’ (5-7, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) No. 30 ranked pair of junior Ana Oparenovic and freshman Tatum Rice improved to 10-1 this spring with a 6-2 victory at the top doubles spot.
Sophomore Giulia Pairone and senior Mia Jurasic secured the opening point by beating Vanderbilt’s (11-2, 4-0 SEC) Fernanda Contreras and Summer Dvorak 6-3.
The Commodores leveled the match with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 6 singles.
Arkansas reclaimed the lead when No. 87 Oparenovic picked up a 6-1, 6-2 win over No. 27 Christina Rosca.
Vanderbilt followed up with consecutive wins at No. 4 and 5 to go up 3-2.
No. 66 Pairone tied the contest when she downed No. 5 Contreras 6-3, 7-6 (4) for the highest-ranked win of her career. With the win, Pairone improved to 9-0 this spring.
The Commodores clinched the overall team victory with a win at the No. 3 spot.
Up Next
Arkansas will hit the road next week and play Thursday at LSU (4 p.m. CT) and Saturday at Texas A&M (noon CT).
