This past weekend, the Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis team traveled to Southern Methodist University (SMU) for its first dual match of the season. 

Going into the matchup, five Commodore players were ranked among the top players in the nation. Célia-Belle Mohr was ranked No. 14, Bridget Stammel was ranked No. 24, Valeria Ray at No. 75 and Holly Staff at No. 95. Additionally, the doubles pairs of Mohr/Anessa Lee and Ray/Staff were ranked No. 17 and No. 59, respectively. 

Despite a close match, No. 17 Vanderbilt ultimately fell short to SMU with a final score of 4-3. In the first match of the day, the doubles pair of Stammel and Ray secured a victory, but after the Commodores lost the remaining two doubles matchups, the meet went into singles play where the Commodores would need to win four matches. Sonya Macavei started the singles effort strong for Vanderbilt, winning in straight sets 6-0, 6-2. Lee also won in straight sets against SMU’s Lana Mavor. 

Despite dropping the first set in a tiebreak, Mohr bounced back to win her singles matchup. However, three-set losses by Stammel and Lee secured the victory for SMU. 

“Congrats to SMU, they fought hard and played well today,” said Vanderbilt head coach Aleke Tsoubanos. “It’s not often both teams have match points to win the overall dual. This was going to be a heartbreaker for somebody and unfortunately, we found ourselves on the wrong side of it today. We will have to turn the page and put in a good week of practice to prepare for the ITA Kickoff.”

Singles results:

#14 Mohr def. Taylor Johnson (SMU) 6-7, 6-0, 6-3

Drew Morris (SMU) def. #24 Stammel 7-5, 4-6, 7-6

Hadley Doyle (SMU) def. #75 Ray 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

Lee def. Lana Mavor (SMU) 6-1, 6-4

Maja Makoric (SMU) def. #95 Staff 4-6, 6-4, 6-2

Macavei def. Caroline McGinley (SMU) 6-0, 6-2

Doubles results:

John/Mavor (SMU) def. #17 Mohr/Lee 6-4

Morris/Mekoric (SMU) def. Staff/Stevens 6-4

Stammel/Ray def. McGinley/Skelton (SMU) 6-2

Next up, the Commodores will travel to Knoxville, Tenn. for ITA Kickoff Weekend, where they will take on Tennessee at 3 p.m. on Jan. 26 and either Miami (Fla.) or USC on Jan. 27.