The No. 21 Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis team traveled to Miami, Florida, for the Miami Spring Invite from Jan. 10–12. The Commodores faced staunch competition in all three opponents — Oklahoma, Miami and North Carolina State — ranked in the top 25. Senior Celia-Belle Mohr and sophomore Valeria Ray led the way for the Black and Gold. Both Mohr and Ray finished the weekend with a perfect 3-0 record in singles play.
Vanderbilt head coach Aleke Tsoubanos was impressed with the play displayed throughout the weekend and the preparation it provided for the upcoming dual-match season.
”I love this tournament because we get such good competition in before kicking off the dual match season,” Tsoubanos said. “It was a weekend of four top-25 teams going at it with each other, and overall, I think we competed pretty well.”
Day One
Vanderbilt began its day and the tournament strong with a 6-0 doubles sweep. The pair of Bridget Stammel and Ray shut out NC State’s Jasmine Conway and Gambia Paskauskas. Sonya Macavei and Trinetra Vijayakumar downed another NC State doubles team — Mia Slama and Anna Zyryanova — with a final score of 6-2.
On the singles side, Mohr defeated No. 14 Julia Garcia Ruiz (Oklahoma) 6-2 and 7-5. With that victory, Mohr nabbed her fourth-ranked win of the season and her third against a top-15 opponent. Ray, ranked No. 78, also picked up a win in singles play when she defeated Oklahoma’s Chloe Noel 4-6, 6-1 and 6-3.
However, the Commodores struggled to find their footing in singles play on Day One outside of Mohr and Ray. Stammel, the No. 26 player in the nation, fell to No. 43 Alina Shcherbinina of Oklahoma 6-4 and 7-5. Vijayakumar battled back from a 4-6 first-set loss to win the second 6-3. The first-year ultimately lost the third 7-5 to No. 68 Ava Cantanzarite (Oklahoma).
Jagolinzer also fell to NC State’s Jasmine Conway in a three-set battle, 5-7, 6-3 and 7-5. Macavei, Amy Steves and Naomi Katz all fell to opponents from Oklahoma in two sets, while Sophia Webster fell to No. 68 Ava Catanzarite 6-2, 4-6 and 7-6 (2).
Day Two
Day Two of the Miami Spring Invite kicked off with Stammel cruising to a two-set win over NC State’s Maddy Zampardo. Mohr continued the ‘Dores’ momentum when she defeated Kristina Paskauskas — also of NC State — 6-2, 6-2. Ray, back in her hometown, continued her impressive weekend when she beat Gabriella Broadfoot of NC State 6-4, 6-3. Vanderbilt’s Webster, Macavei, Vijayakumar and Stevens all fell to their NC State opponents in two sets.
Mohr and Macavei also picked up a doubles win, defeating Miami’s Aely Arai and Savannah Webster. The lone win from the Mohr/Macavei duo is all Vanderbilt would get on the doubles side, with Stammel/Ray, Webster/Vijayakumar and Stevens/Jagolinzer falling to their opponents.
Day Three
Vanderbilt started its third and final day in Miami with a rocky start. After being swept in doubles play, the Commodores found their footing on the singles side of play, completing a sweep of their own.
“It wasn’t the best start [to] the day with doubles this morning, but we challenged the team to regroup, and they did a great job of that in singles,” Tsoubanos said.
Mohr was the first to turn the page, starting Vanderbilt off with a matchup against Miami’s Jacquelyn Ogunwale. She claimed the opening set 6-2 but quickly found herself in a 4-2 hole in the second. Mohr dropped the second set but kept on battling, eventually emerging victorious with a 7-6(5) third-set score. Ray gained her third singles win in as many days when she defeated Xinyi Nong of Miami 6-3, 4-6 and 6-0.
Stammel continued the momentum for the ‘Dores by defeating No. 70 Raquel Gonzalez of Miami in a gritty three-set battle. Vijayakumar gained her first singles win of the tournament with a three-set victory over Arai (Miami). Macavei collected the fourth Commodore singles win, defeating Webster (Miami). Wins by Vanderbilt’s Webster and Stevens in two and three sets, respectively, wrapped up the day and the tournament for the Commodores.
Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis will be back in action on Jan. 19 when it hosts SMU and Western Kentucky for a home doubleheader. The Commodores are set to play SMU first at 11 a.m. CST, followed by the match against Western Kentucky at 5 p.m. CST.