AUBURN, Ala. — No. 13 Vanderbilt women’s tennis suffered a second consecutive loss, falling 4-0 to No. 4 Auburn at the Yarbrough Tennis Center on Sunday.
Doubles play went back and forth between the two teams. Auburn (29-3, 13-2 SEC) pulled out the first win of the contest at No. 3 doubles. Vanderbilt (19-8, 9-6 SEC) bounced back at No. 2 doubles after No. 10 junior Valeria Ray and senior Bridget Stammel notched another ranked win, 6-3, over No. 18 Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat. It was the sixth ranked victory of the season for the Commodore duo. With the doubles point coming down to Court 1, the Tigers pulled off a 7-6 (2) comeback win at the top position to seal the early advantage.
Auburn grabbed five first set leads to begin singles play. Sophomore Trinetra Vijayakumar was the lone Dore to claim an opening set, 6-4, over No. 55 Ava Esposito. Vandy was unable to shift the momentum, and the Tigers collected wins at No. 3, 1 and 2 singles to finish off the match. It is just the second time all season the Commodores have lost back-to-back matches in SEC play.
No. 13 Vanderbilt will have a few days to regroup before traveling to Norman, Oklahoma for the 2026 SEC Women’s Tennis Championship tournament. The opening round of the event is set to begin on April 15 from the Headington Family Tennis Center. For more information, updates and exclusive match day content, follow the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team, @VandyWTennis, on Instagram and X.
No. 4 Auburn 4, No. 13 Vanderbilt 0
Doubles
1. No. 3 DJ Bennett/Esposito [Auburn] def. No. 7 Célia-Belle Mohr/Sophia Webster [Vanderbilt] 7-6 (2)
2. No. 10 Ray/Stammel [Vanderbilt] def. No. 18 Okutoyi/Refaat [Auburn] 6-3
3. Ashton Bowers/Ekaterina Khairutdinova [Auburn] def. Erin Pearce/Mia Yamakita [Vanderbilt] 6-3
Singles
1. No. 37 Bennett [Auburn] def. No. 6 Stammel [Vanderbilt] 6-2, 6-1
2. No. 49 Khairutdinova [Auburn] def. No. 24 Ray [Vanderbilt] 6-2, 6-4
3. No. 72 Okutoyi [Auburn] def. Pearce [Vanderbilt] 6-2, 6-1
4. Refaat [Auburn] vs. No. 121 Yamakita [Vanderbilt] 6-4, 5-4, unfinished
5. No. 48 Bowers [Auburn] vs. Webster [Vanderbilt] 7-6, 1-3, unfinished
6. No. 55 Esposito [Auburn] vs. Trinetra Vijayakumar [Vanderbilt] 4-6, 5-4, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (3,1,2)
