No. 19 Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis excelled on Alumni Weekend, as the Commodores shut out Mississippi State 7-0 and bested No. 17 Alabama 5-2 to begin the SEC slate 3-0. Across the weekend, Vanderbilt was undefeated in doubles play and won 10 of 12 singles matches.
Vanderbilt vs. Mississippi State
The Commodores stormed ahead from the outset on Feb. 28, with Sonya Macavei and Bridget Stammel claiming the first doubles victory in a 6-3 match against Mississippi State’s Emma Cohen and Athina Pitta. Valeria Ray and Trinetra Vijayakumar then delivered a 6-2 takedown of the Bulldogs’ Jayna Clemens and Chiara Di Genova to secure the doubles point. When play was called, Vanderbilt’s highest ranked duo, No. 12 Célia-Belle Mohr and Sophia Webster, was leading 5-3.
In singles, Vanderbilt played even more decisively, winning five of the six matches in straight sets. No. 46 Mohr led the way with a 6-0, 6-0 rout of Maria Rizzolo, which was quickly followed by No. 41 Stammel’s 6-1, 6-2 victory over Genova. Ray was close behind with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Alessia Tagliente. With four points, Vanderbilt had already secured the match, but the Commodores remained focused on earning a second straight SEC shutout. Macavei battled back from a challenging first set to take her match against Clemens 1-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-7). Vanderbilt’s first-years then delivered the 7-0 sweep, as Vijayakumar defeated Cohen handily 6-3, 6-0, and Webster triumphed over Ava Rath 6-2, 6-2.
Vanderbilt vs. Alabama
Vanderbilt’s momentum carried into its Mar. 2 match against No. 17 Alabama in doubles. Macavei and Stammel wasted no time, dominating the Crimson Tide’s Priya Nelson and Petra Sedlackova 6-0 to pick up their fifth straight doubles win. Mohr and Webster followed suit, earning their fifth straight victory in a 6-3 win over Klara Milicevic and Sara Nayar. Ray and Vijayakumar were knotted up at 3-3 with their Alabama opponents Maria Andrienko and Maria Martinez-Vaque when Vanderbilt secured the doubles point.
The Commodores faced their greatest adversity of the weekend when Alabama’s Milicevic defeated Vijayakumar 6-3, 6-2 in the first singles match to even the score. However, Ray’s 6-1, 6-3 win over Andrienko put Vanderbilt back in front and marked the Miami native’s fourteenth straight singles victory. Mohr then built on this lead with a 6-0, 7-6 defeat of No. 84 Sedlackova. With Vanderbilt only needing one more point to win, Alabama’s Nayar delivered for the Crimson Tide, pulling away from Vijayakumar 7-5, 6-2. The score stood at 3-2 when Vanderbilt’s Webster ended Alabama’s hopes with a clean 6-1, 6-1 victory over Nelson. Stammel then rounded out Vanderbilt’s win with a 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 come-from-behind victory to push the score to 5-2.
“I am so proud of this team,” head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said. “I thought we competed beautifully all weekend. We’re getting better and taking steps forward with each match.”
Vanderbilt will look to earn a 10th straight victory with a road win against Arkansas (3-7, 0-3 SEC) on March 7 at 5 p.m. CST in Fayetteville.
