Teams begin by playing three doubles matches, and the school that wins two matches clinching a team point. There are then six singles matches, each of which confers a team point. Combined, there are seven possible team points, but the round ends as soon as a team reaches four.
NCAA Regionals first round vs. East Tennessee State: Friday, May 5
The Commodores began the weekend hot with a shutout victory over the Buccaneers.
Vanderbilt opened the doubles matches with quick victories by No. 44 Célia-Belle Mohr/Marcella Cruz and Anessa Lee/Bridget Stammel. After securing the doubles point, No. 83 Stammel went on to win her singles match handily, giving the Commodores a 2-0 lead.
Though she faced stiffer competition than Stammel, No. 24 Mohr wrapped her match up in two sets and added a point to Vanderbilt’s lead. Sophomore Amy Stevens provided the proverbial nail in the coffin as she bested the Buccaneers’ Daniela Rivera in her second set. Vanderbilt was then set to face No. 10 Ohio State.
Final results for the matches were as follows:
Singles:
Mohr (Vanderbilt) defeated Laylo Bakhodirova 6-3, 7-5
Stammel defeated Mariya Shumeika 6-4, 6-0
Lee faced Maria Fernanda Carvajal 6-3, 4-6, unfinished
Holly Staff faced Emilia Alfaro 6-4, 5-2, unfinished
Stevens defeated Daniela Rivera 6-2, 7-5
Cruz faced Ralitsa Alexandrova 6-1, 6-6 (5-1), unfinished
Doubles:
Mohr/Cruz defeated Bakhodirova/Shumeika 6-4
Anna Ross/Staff faced Carvajal/Rivera 5-4, unfinished
Lee/Stammel defeated Alfaro/Yunuen Elizarraras 6-3
NCAA Regionals second round vs. No. 10 Ohio State: Saturday, May 6
Ross and Staff opened the second round with a victory, capturing an early lead in doubles. In a slight upset, Mohr/Cruz fell to No. 37 Irina Cantos Siemers/Sydni Ratliff and tied the doubles 1-1.
These matches set up a winner-take-all scenario for Lee/Stammel that came down to a tiebreaker. By the slimmest of margins, the Commodores took the match, earning an early 1-0 round lead over the Buckeyes.
That’s where the well of luck ran dry for Vanderbilt. Ohio State took the opening set in all six singles matches. Mohr held on in the second set of her match, but Stammel dropped the set and her match, only winning one game across both sets for a combined 12-1 score. Ross dragged her match to a third set, but Lee fell in two.
Vanderbilt found itself down 2-1 when Staff took the court for her second set. The junior from the U.K. could not mount the royal comeback, giving the Buckeyes a 3-1 lead.
The Commodores would have had to be perfect in the remaining matches to beat the Buckeyes, meaning that Mohr and Ross would need to win their third sets. Before any of that could happen, Stevens needed to bounce back in the second set after a 6-2 first set loss to Danielle Wilson. She went down early, and the lead ballooned with a final margin of 6-2.
Despite the early doubles defeat, Ohio State stormed back and claimed victory by a score of 4-2. Vanderbilt’s season ended, while the Buckeyes advanced to the Final Eight.
Final results for the matches were as follows:
Singles:
Mohr defeated No. 30 Ratliff 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
No. 20 Cantos Siemers defeated Stammel 6-1, 6-0
No. 123 Ross faced Isabelle Boulais 4-6, 6-4, 2-3, unfinished
Lucia Marzal defeated Lee 6-3, 6-4
No. 89 Shelly Bereznyak defeated Staff 7-5, 6-2
Willson defeated Stevens 6-2, 6-2
Doubles:
Cantos Siemers/Ratliff defeated Mohr/Cruz 7-6 (7-5)
Ross/Staff defeated Bereznyak/Boulais 6-4
Lee/Stammel defeated Willson/Kolie Allen 7-6 (7-3)
Up next:
After a 16-12 season, the Commodores will have some retooling to do before next spring. Dasha Kourkina, Mohr, Cruz and Ross will all depart from Vanderbilt and leave a gap in the roster. As a last hurrah in the Black and Gold, Mohr will compete in the NCAA Singles Championship from May 22-27.
