The Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis team wrapped up a strong showing at the annual June Stewart Invitational in Nashville, Tennessee, this past weekend. The Commodores thrived throughout the weekend, dominating play for much of the tournament against opponents from Purdue, Ole Miss, Lipscomb and Kentucky. Sonya Macavei and Sophia Webster excelled in particular, each going undefeated across their three singles matches.
Day 1
Vanderbilt opened the tournament in exciting fashion, winning five of six matches on Friday. Sophomores Trinetra Vijayakumar and Webster beat their Purdue counterparts in first and second singles, respectively. Vijayakumar’s victory came easily in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, while Webster’s came in a tightly contested battle, 1-6, 6-1, 10-6. No. 12-ranked Webster and graduate Célia-Belle Mohr rolled over Ole Miss in doubles while Macavei and Vijayakumar defeated Lipscomb, both by a score of 6-1. Macavei also won her singles match, while Naomi Katz was defeated 6-1, 6-0 by Purdue’s Ashlie Wilson.
Day 2
On Saturday, No. 2 Mohr returned to singles action, delivering a 6-1, 6-3 win over Ole Miss’s Brooklyn Olson. Mohr also took home a second straight doubles victory with Webster, defeating Kentucky’s top pairing 6-2. Vanderbilt continued its momentum by taking home wins at the next three singles spots before Katz fell in a third-set tiebreak at fifth singles. Macavei and Vijayakumar also won their second straight doubles match, giving the Commodores wins in six of- even matches on Saturday and securing an 11-2 record two days into the tournament.
Day 3
Sunday brought more success for the Commodores, with Webster and Macavei each winning their singles matches in straight sets against Kentucky en route to undefeated 3-0 individual records across the weekend. Mohr and Webster also secured their undefeated weekend of doubles, topping Purdue’s first doubles tandem 6-4. Though Vijayakumar and Katz both fell to Kentucky in first and fourth singles, the weekend proved a very strong team performance from Vanderbilt overall.
“Célia and Sophia are playing some very good doubles,” head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said after the pair took down Tennessee three weeks ago. “When they play their game style and execute, they’re really tough to beat.”
The Commodores will next travel to the UTSA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, for the NCAA Championships, where Vanderbilt will have three singles and two doubles representatives on Nov. 18-23.
