After narrowly defeating No. 12 Ohio State 4-3 in the NCAA Regional round, the Vanderbilt Commodores get eliminated by No. 5 Virginia by a score of 4-1 in the Sweet Sixteen.
Virginia cruised on the doubles courts, with the No, 88 pairing of Meggie Navarro and Sara Ziodato defeating Vanderbilt’s Anessa Lee and Amy Stevens, 6-1. Their win was followed by a close 7-5 victory for the No. 47 duo of Hibah Shaikh and Natasha Subhash over Bridget Stammel and Valeria Ray. The 2-0 sweep by Virginia in doubles left Célia-Belle Mohr and Holly Staff’s match unfinished.
In singles, it was once again all Virigina. No. 125 Elaine Chervinsky was the first to strike for the Cavaliers, defeating Staff 6-1, 6-2; and Subhash followed suit with her own 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ray. With Virginia up 3-0 and the Commodores one more loss away from elimination, No. 13 Mohr secured a comeback win against No. 25 Shaikh 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. The Mohr victory only helped the Commodores stay afloat for a little while longer, as Melodie Collard’s 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Stevens propelled the Cavaliers into the elite eight.
The Commodores finished the season with a 14-11 record, with six of those wins coming in the SEC. Their bid to the NCAA tournament also marks their 29th consecutive year appearing in the regionals. Vanderbilt ended the season with two individual SEC honors, as well: Mohr was selected to the First Team All-SEC for the second year, and Ray was honored as a member of the All-Freshman team.
While the season is over for the Commodores on the whole, two individual athletes have more tennis ahead of them. Mohr has qualified to compete in both the NCAA Singles Championship, as well as the NCAA Doubles Championship, where she’ll be paired with Lee. Both competitions are scheduled to take place in Stillwater, Okla., and are scheduled for May 20-25.
Singles
- No. 13 Mohr (Vanderbilt) def. No. 24 Shaikh 4-6, 6-1, 6-1
- No. 74 Stammel (Vanderbilt) vs. No. 67 Annabelle Xu 2-6, 6-3, 1-3, unfinished
- Subhash (Virginia) def. Ray 6-3, 6-2
- Lee (Vanderbilt) vs. No. 91 Ziodato 6-7 (2), 6-3, 1-1, unfinished
- No. 125 Chervinsky (Virginia) def. Staff 6-1, 6-2
- Collard (Virginia) def. Stevens 1-6, 6-1, 6-4
Doubles
- No. 53 Mohr/Staff (Vanderbilt) vs. No. 8 Collard/Chevinsky 6-6 (1-4), unfinished
- No. 47 Subhash/Shaikh (Virginia) def. Stammel/Ray 7-5
- No. 88 Ziodato/Navarro (Virginia) def. Lee/Stevens 6-1
