Lady Raiders Fall to No. 4 Vanderbilt 5-2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Middle Tennessee women's tennis (8-4 picked up some quality wins individually but fell overall to fourth-ranked Vanderbilt (13-2) 5-2 at the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center Monday.

The Lady Raiders opened the match with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. Middle Tennessee's No. 22nd ranked Manon Kruse and Carien Venter knocked off Vanderbilt's No. 3 team in the nation of Kelly Schmandt and Aleke Tsoubanos 8-4. Unranked Jennifer Klaschka and Laura McNamara got the biggest win of the year when the duo defeated the No. 27th ranked team of Audra Falk and Annie Menees of Vanderbilt.

Klaschka, ranked 100 in the ITA, won the only point in singles for the Lady Raiders, defeating Kelly Schmandt 6-4, 6-2. Schmandt, who is ranked No. 69 in the ITA, is the highest ranked player Klaschka has defeated this spring.

Senior standout Manon Kruse (11-1) dropped the first match of the spring, snapping an 11-game winning streak. She fell to No. 27 ranked Audra Falk 6-4, 7-6 (5).

The Lady Raiders will head out for spring break in Las Vegas, Nevada this weekend. Middle Tennessee is scheduled to play UNLV March 20 at 10 a.m.