Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis sent eight players to the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship in Knoxville, Tennessee, from Oct. 16-21. The Commodores were led by graduate student Célia-Belle Mohr and sophomore Sophia Webster, with the duo punching their ticket to the doubles championship.  

Day 1 

On the first day of the tournament, singles matches opened with Erin Pearce playing a three-set match against Fattima Gutierrez of Purdue and winning 5-7, 6-0, 6-3. Bridget Stammel began her win streak by beating Valeria Chaikovskaia of Murray State 6-2, 6-2. Next for the Commodores was Mia Yamakita, who defeated Purdue’s Isa Clement in a 6-0, 6-1 sweep.  

Valeria Ray followed suit, defeating Rutuja Chaphalkar  of Middle Tennessee State University 6-4, 6-0. Sophia Webster gained yet another Commodore singles win battling through a tough two set win over Butler’s Chase Metcalf, 7-5, 6-4.  

Vanderbilt found less success in the back half of the day. Sonya Macavei lost a challenging three-set match against Ece Gencer of Purdue 4-6, 6-1, 3-6.  

Vanderbilt’s doubles duo Trinetra Vijayakumar and Sonya Macavei played well against Purdue’s Ece Gencer and Ashlie Wilson but lost in a tough set, 8-6.  

Day 2 

Vanderbilt had an impressive Day 2, not losing a single match across either singles or doubles. Mohr and Webster were the tournament’s No. 1 doubles seed and began the day beating Southern Indiana’s Antonia Ferrarini and Rylie Wilkison, 8-1. Ray and Stammel followed suit, defeating Austin Peay’s Sophia Baranov and Katie Oliver, 8-3. Vanderbilt’s first-year duo of Pearce and  Yamakita opened their day with an 8-2 victory over Cincinatti’s Gabrielle Geunther and Tara Kurepa.  

Doubles play continued with an amazing match from Mohr and Webster, who won 8-3 against Alessandra Caceres and Kesnijia Rage from East Tennessee State. The Commodores’ winning streak continued with an 8-6 victory from Ray and Stammel over Kentucky’s Zoe Hammod and Reese Sager.  Pearce and Yamakita earned a final third doubles victory for Vanderbilt against Addison Iacono and Rufaro Margarira of Chattanooga.  

In singles, Webster won 7-6 (5), 6-4 against Kurepa, while Yamakita won 6-3, 6-3 against East Tennessee State’s Julia Millan. Stammel came ready to fight and got a straight set win, taking down Purdue’s Kathryn Wilson 6-2, 6-2. Ray added yet another win to her fantastic day in straight sets over Louisville’s Berta Miret, 6-3, 6-3. Pearce capped off the Commodores’ perfect day with a win over Tennessee’s Maeve Thonton, 6-1, 6-3. 

Day 3 

On the third day of competition, Stammel started with a big win over Tennessee’s Saray Yli-Pilpari 6-4, 6-2. Stammel continued her streak and also eliminated fellow Volunteer Vanesa Suarez, 6-2, 6-1, leaving Stammel with a 2-0 record on the day to advance to Day 4. Yamakita defeated Tennessee’s Elim Yan 7-6 (3), 6-3 and then continued with a gritty three-set win over Kentucky’s Zoe Hammond 6-3, 4-6, 7-5. 

Doubles duo Mohr and Webster played well as they beat Purdue’s Emmi Kolyszko and Kathryn Wilson, 8-3. Yamakita and Pearce punched their ticket to the semifinals with a win over Louisville duo Alice Otis and Lika Persypinka, 8-6.  

Day 4 

Five Commodores remained in the tournament after three days of play. Stammel started things off for the Commodores, competing in the singles semifinal match against No. 57 Julia Zhu of Kentucky.  

With a NCAA qualifying spot on the line, Stammel came ready for a battle, immediately breaking her opponent’s serve. She carried that momentum all the way through the match gaining a two-set sweep, 6-0, 6-0, and advancing to her third consecutive regional singles final.  

“Bridget has played nearly flawless tennis these last few days; her court presence and determination to reach this final was among the best I’ve seen in her Vanderbilt career,” head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said. “And I’m speaking about someone who has won this tournament the last two years, so hats off to her for some high-level tennis.”  

Doubles pairs Mohr and Webster defeated Mattoli/Thorton (Tennessee) 6-7 (2), 6-4, 10-6, and Pearce/Yamakita had a tough loss to Tennessee’s Aulia/Britez Risso, 4-6, 0-6. Mohr and Webster advanced to championship day, but Pearce and Yamakita were eliminated from the tournament. 

Day 5 

On the fifth and final day of the tournament, Mohr and Webster were the only Commodores remaining. Despite being up as much as 3-1 in the first set, Mohr and Webster took a tough 6-4 loss in the first set to their opponents — the No. 17 doubles pair Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso. The Commodore duo forced a third set, though, with a 6-4 second set win. In the final tiebreaker, tensions were high as a back-and-forth fight knotted things up at 10-apiece. The Commodores eventually prevailed with a 12-10 victory in the tiebreaker to give the duo an NCAA qualifying spot.  

“I’m really proud of [Mohr] and [Webster] for coming through in a very tough match today,” associate head coach Jack Findel-Hawkins said. “They didn’t always play their best tennis, but they stuck together as a team and focused on bringing the best out of each other when it really mattered.”  

Vanderbilt will next compete in the ITA Sectional Championships in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from Nov. 6-9.