Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis sent four players to the ITA Championships at the University of Georgia and Berry College with sights set on qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. Junior Bridget Stammel and sophomore Valeria Ray competed in the ITA Sectionals Championship at Georgia, while senior Célia-Belle Mohr and first-year Sophia Webster battled in the ITA Masters Tournament at Berry.
By the end of the weekend, Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis was able to send four players to the NCAA Championships from Nov. 19-24 at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. No. 34 Stammel and Ray will compete in the singles draw, while Mohr and Webster will shoot for a doubles title.
ITA Sectionals Championship
The Commodores dominated their opening day of ITA Sectionals play in Athens. The No. 64 ranked doubles tandem of Stammel and Ray began the morning with a commanding win over Tulane’s Summer Chandel and Micah Pierce. Stammel and Ray remained aggressive after cruising to a 6-3 victory in the first set, winning the second set 6-2 to advance to the next round. Ray carried the team’s momentum into her ensuing singles matches. After an easy 6-1, 6-4 defeat of Ole Miss’s Rachel Krzyzak, the sophomore was challenged by Kentucky’s Julia Zhu. Despite Zhu’s valiant efforts to overcome the electric Commodore, Ray buckled down to secure a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win and complete the opening-day sweep for Vanderbilt.
The following day, Ray met her match. Georgia’s star singles player, Guillermina Grant, stifled every facet of Ray’s game en route to a 6-4, 6-3 victory on Friday morning. However, the young Commodore did not let this loss affect her remaining performances. Ray and Stammel doubled down on their success from Thursday, besting Ole Miss’s Emma Kette and Krzyzak in a 6-2, 6-2 rout.
On Saturday, Stammel and Ray fell well short of a finals berth, losing 2-6, 3-6 to Georgia Tech’s Given Roach and Alejandra Cruz. The loss forced the duo to compete in a high-stakes matchup the following morning with an NCAA tournament ticket on the line. After dropping the first set 6-7 (6), the duo could not bounce back against Ole Miss’s Anna Leclerq-Fisher and Ludmila Kareisova. The team’s 3-6 loss in the second set ultimately eliminated it from NCAA doubles contention.
Nevertheless, Ray beat Ole Miss’s Kette in a convincing 6-3, 6-3 singles match to punch her ticket to the NCAA Singles Tournament. She will join No. 34 ranked Stammel in the singles draw.
ITA Masters Championship
On Friday, the No. 29 ranked Vanderbilt squad of Mohr and Webster continued to do what they’re familiar with: win. The skillful Black and Gold duo easily overcame Portland’s Sally Pethybridge and Alaia Rubio Perez in a 6-1, 6-2 takedown. Mohr and Webster rode this wave to another 6-3, 6-1 victory over Denver’s Andrea Beltran and Marley Lambert.
Saturday saw Mohr and Webster engage in an extended back-and-forth battle with Xavier’s Clara Owen and Abby Nugent. Despite a convincing 6-2 win to open the match, the Vanderbilt tandem’s game faltered, and the duo dropped the next set 2-6. Owen and Nugent used their second set momentum to ultimately win the ensuing tiebreaker 10-4.
Mohr and Webster headed into Sunday needing one more win to secure an NCAA tournament appearance. The tandem rose to the occasion. Despite losing a hard-fought 6-7 (5) first set to Sacramento State’s Maddy Ferreros and Irene Riva, the senior and freshman combo was not discouraged. The second set saw Mohr and Webster win 24 of 29 total points en route to a 6-0 victory. The team carried their dominance into a 10-5 tiebreaker victory and, ultimately, an NCAA Doubles Championship berth.
