No. 13 Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis started its final weekend of conference play on the road at No. 17 Florida before heading to No. 4 Auburn. Ultimately, the Commodores came back from the weekend empty-handed, finishing their regular season with a 19-7 (9-5 SEC) record. Despite the less than desirable end to their regular season, the Black and Gold still have plenty to look forward to in postseason play. 

Florida 

The Commodores started the match playing catchup after dropping the doubles point when No. 10-ranked Valeria Ray and Bridget Stammel fell to Brooke Black and Valery Gynina, 6-2. With the first doubles win under their belt, the Gators clinched the doubles point when Lucie Pawlak and India Houghton defeated Erin Pearce and Mia Yamakita — the Commodores No. 3 doubles pairing — 6-3. That left the No. 1 doubles pairing between No. 7-ranked Calia-Belle Mohr and Sophia Webster and No. 19-ranked Xinyi Nong and Nikola Daubnerova unfinished with the Commodores holding a 5-1 advantage.  

After dropping the doubles point, the Commodores just couldn’t recover, falling twice more to give Florida the victory. First, at the No. 1 singles spot, No. 6-ranked Stammel fell to No. 72 Houghton in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. Then, No. 14 ranked Mohn dropped her match to No. 67 Gynina, 7-5, 6-4. 

With the match put away, the match between No. 57 Gabia Paskauskas and No. 24 Ray was left unfinished in the third set. Additionally, the pairings between Nong and No. 121 Yamakita; Pawlak and Pearce; and Daubnergova and Webster were all left unfinished in their second set. 

Auburn 

Just two days later, the ’Dores suffered another shutout loss on the road, this time to the No. 4 Auburn Tigers. It was a duel between the two teams for the doubles point, where the deciding game was in the third pairing. The Tigers came away with the first doubles win when Ashton Bowers and Ekaterina Khairutdinova defeated Pearce and Yamakita, 6-3. Vanderbilt responded with a win at the No. 2 doubles spot when Ray and Stammel downed No. 18-ranked Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat, 6-3. That meant it all came down to the contest at the No. 1 doubles pairing between No. 3-ranked DJ Bennett and Ava Esposito against No. 7-ranked Mohr and Webster. Bennett and Esposito emerged with a 7-6(2) comeback win to gain the doubles point for the Tigers.  

Auburn carried its momentum from the close doubles win into singles play, dismantling the Commodores and walking away with a 4-0 win. First, Pearce fell to No. 72 Okytoyi 6-2, 6-1 before No. 6 Stammel was upset by No. 37 Bennett in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. The Commodores’ weekend ended when No. 24 Ray also fell in straight sets to No. 46 Khairutdinova, 6-2, 6-4. 

The Commodores now enter the postseason, which starts April 15 in Norman, Oklahoma, at the 2026 SEC Women’s Tennis Championship tournament.