SEC Tournament First Round vs. Alabama – Thursday, April 20:
The No. 8-seeded Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis team opened up its SEC Tournament play against No. 9-seeded Alabama. The Commodores came away with a 4-2 win to secure their spot in the quarterfinal round.
In the doubles side of play, the Vanderbilt duo of Celia-Belle Mohr and Marcella Cruz defeated the No. 36 Alabama duo of Anna Marie Hiser and Loudmilla Bencheikh. Shortly after, Vanderbilt’s Anna Ross and Holly Staff secured the doubles point of the match for the Commodores, giving them an advantage on points heading into singles play.
Bridget Stammel continued to build on the Commodore lead when she earned a two-set victory over Alabama’s Ola Pitak to kickoff singles play. Anessa Lee also added to the point total, winning in two sets on Court 4. Despite falling to the Tide on Courts 1 and 5, the Commodores secured the game-winning point when Amy Stevens earned a three-set victory.
“I am proud of the way our team competed to pull out a gritty win,” head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said of her team’s performance against Alabama. “We played very well in doubles, and that point was key.”
Final results for the match were as follows:
Singles:
No.119 Bencheikh (Alabama) def. No 34 Celia-Belle Mohr 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
No. 89 Bridget Stammel (Vanderbilt) def Ola Pitak 6-2, 6-1
No. 117 Anna Ross (Vanderbilt) vs Petra Sedlockova 7-5, 2-6, 5-3 (unfinished)
Anessa Lee (Vanderbilt) def. Anna Parkhomenko 6-4, 6-1
Hiser (Alabama) def. Staff 6-4, 6-0
Amy Stevens (Vanderbilt) def. Klara Milicevic 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2
Doubles:
Mohr/Cruz (Vanderbilt) def. No.36 Hiser/Bencheikh 6-4
Ross/Staff (Vanderbilt) def. Sedlackova/Parkhomenko 6-3
Stammel/Lee (Vanderbilt) vs. O.Pitak/K.Pitak 5-4, unfinished
SEC Tournament Quarterfinals vs. Texas A&M – Friday, April 21
In the second round, Vanderbilt fell to No. 1 Texas A&M and was eliminated from the tournament.
The day started out with the Mohr/Cruz duo defeating No. 25 Jayci Goldsmith and Salma Ewing on Court 1. Despite this, however, the Commodores were unable to gain wins on Courts 2 and 3, resulting in the Aggies taking the doubles point for the match.
In singles play, the Commodores put their first point of the match on the board when Mohr defeated No. 2 Mary Stoniana in two sets. The Aggies retaliated, picking up wins on Courts 2 and 5. Vanderbilt battled, sending each of the remaining games to three sets. However, Texas A&M picked up the game-winning point on Court 5 to send the Commodores home.
The final results for the match against Texas A&M were as follows:
Singles:
No. 34 Mohr (Vanderbilt) def. No. 2 Stoiana 6-2, 6-4
No. 73 Ewing (A&M) def. No. 89 Bridget Stammel 6-3, 6-2
Lee (Vanderbilt) vs. No. 57 Kupres 7-5, 4-6, 3-2 (unfinished
No. 115 (A&M) def. Staff 6-1, 6-2
Daria Smetannikow (A&M) def. Amy Stevens 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
Cruz (Vanderbilt) vs. Jeanette Mireles 4-6, 7-5, 5-2 (unfinished)
Doubles:
Mohr/Crus (Vanderbilt) def. No. 25 Goldsmith/Ewing 6-2
No. 55 Kupres/Stoniana (A&M) def. Ross/Staff 6-1
Pielet/Mireles (A&M) def. Stammel/Lee 7-5
Up next:
The Commodores now await a potential bid to the NCAA Regionals, which will take place from May 5-7.
