No. 14-seeded Vanderbilt Women’s Tennis played its first-round matchup in the 2026 NCAA Tournament against Xavier on Friday, May 1. The Commodores defeated the Musketeers in the same round last season and came away with yet another 4-0 victory. The two teams also faced off Feb. 20, when Vanderbilt won 6-1.
The match was played on Vanderbilt’s campus at the Lummis Family Tennis Center, as the ‘Dores earned hosting privileges for the first two rounds. The other matchup in the regional was No. 24 Clemson versus Eastern Tennessee State University, which the Tigers won 4-1 to allow them to take on the Commodores on May 2.
Xavier, the six-time running Big East Champions, entered Friday on a 15-match win streak, with a 16-9 overall record on the year.
“Xavier is a team we played back in February, and if you looked at the team score, it looked lopsided, but if you looked at the individual courts, it was actually a much closer match than the score indicated,” head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said after the match. “They won the Big East this year and earned the right to be in this [NCAA] tournament, so we came in with a ton of respect for them.”
Vanderbilt took a 1-0 lead with quick victories as Valeria Ray and Bridget Stammel did not lose a single game, defeating Ella DeFord and Madeline Rexroat 6-0. The tandem of Erin Pearce and Mia Yamakita was also dominant — trouncing Emily Flowers and Natalie Smitek 6-1.
In singles, Celia-Belle Mohr beat Abby Nugent 6-0, 6-1 in the No. 1 match. Then, Sophia Webster had a straight-sets victory over Natalie Smitek 6-1, 6-3. Vanderbilt clinched its win with Stammel triumphing over Rexroat 6-1, 6-2.
“I thought we were incredibly efficient on all three courts in doubles and all six courts in singles,” Tsoubanos said. “I think that was important in trying to obviously get the outcome you want in the first round and also gain some momentum to take into a regional final.”
The Commodores will play for the Nashville Regional Title and a trip to the NCAA Super Regional round against Clemson Saturday, May 2, at 4 p.m. CDT.
