Dores Net 10th SEC Win

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — No. 13 Vanderbilt women’s tennis picked up its 10th SEC victory on Friday with a 5-2 win over Kentucky at the Lummis Tennis Center.

“Firstly, I was very impressed with Kentucky today,” head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said. “They really took it to us in the doubles and executed very well with some aggressive play to get that point. They gave us everything we could handle in singles; head coach Shelley [Jaudon] is doing a heck of a job with that program.”

For the second time in three matches, the Dores dropped the doubles point. Junior Sonya Macavei and senior Amy Stevens were at a 4-4 tie with Ellie Myers and Julia Zhu before the match was abandoned. No. 14-ranked senior Célia-Belle Mohr and Sophia Webster fell to 5-4 against ranked opponents.

Vanderbilt secured first set advantages at three of the five available courts to shift the momentum. Freshman Trinetra Vijayakumar nearly gave the Dores a fourth lead but came up just short 7-6 (4) in a first set tiebreaker. No. 81-ranked sophomore Valeria Ray found herself back in the win column with a swift 6-0, 6-1 win against No. 80 Zhu. With her fifth straight singles win, No. 48-ranked junior Bridget Stammel gave Vandy a 2-1 lead after downing Lizzy Stevens 6-2, 6-2. The Dores pushed ahead 3-1 after Mohr notched her eighth ranked singles win, 6-2, 6-4, over No. 40 Zoe Hammond.

Despite the quick shift in scoring, Kentucky stayed within striking distance. The Wildcats claimed victory at No. 5 singles after Asuncion Jadue finished off Vijayakumar. Tess Bucher then snatched the first set from Webster 6-4 at No. 4 singles. But for yet another time this season, Webster fought back to secure the match-clinching 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory. Stevens added a 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (7) win over Ellie Myers to give the black and gold its final point.

“I’m really proud of the way we responded after dropping the doubles point,” Tsoubanos said. “We came out strong on four of the singles courts. Bridget equalizing pretty quickly for 1-1 and then Valeria to push us to 2-1 really gave the team some momentum. Célia‘s ability to close out that second set against Hammond, who has been playing some really good tennis, put us one point away. And Sophia did an outstanding job extending to a third set. She held the serve late to seal it for us, and it was a fantastic battle from her. We’re looking forward to closing out the regular season against Tennessee on Sunday.”

No. 13 Vanderbilt (17-5, 10-4 SEC) hosts No. 9 Tennessee (SEC) for the team’s Senior Day, with the match set to begin at 1 p.m. For more information, updates and exclusive game day content, follow the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team, @VandyWTennis, on Instagram and X.

No. 13 Vanderbilt 5, No. 38 Kentucky 2

Doubles
1. No. 57 Ellie Eades/Stevens (Kentucky) def. No. 14 Mohr/Webster (Vanderbilt) 6-3
2. Hammond/Jadue (Kentucky) def. Ray/Stammel (Vanderbilt) 6-1
3. Macavei/Stevens (Vanderbilt) vs. Myers/Zhu (Kentucky) 4-4, unfinished

Singles
1. No. 17 Mohr (Vanderbilt) def. No. 40 Hammond (Kentucky) 6-2, 6-4
2. No. 81 Ray (Vanderbilt) def. No. 80 Zhu (Kentucky) 6-1, 6-0
3. No. 48 Stammel (Vanderbilt) def. Stevens (Kentucky) 6-2, 6-2
4. Webster (Vanderbilt) def. Bucher (Kentucky) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
5. Jadue (Kentucky) def. Vijayakumar (Vanderbilt) 7-6 (4), 6-4
6. Stevens (Vanderbilt) def. Myers (Kentucky) 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (7)

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (2,3,1,5,4,6)