Dores Roll Tide, Capture Ninth Straight

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 19-ranked Vanderbilt women’s tennis team rolled past No. 17 Alabama 5-2 at the Lummis Tennis Center on Sunday.

“I am so proud of this team,” head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said. “I thought we competed beautifully all weekend. We’re getting better and taking steps forward with each match. Our doubles play is improving, which is a reflection of the hard work the team is putting in during the week. We will enjoy this and get to preparing for Arkansas on Friday.”

It is the first time Vanderbilt has started 3-0 against SEC opponents since the 2017-2018 season, in which the Dores opened conference play 4-0. The win is the ninth straight for the black and gold, and the first top-25 victory of the season. Vanderbilt is one of three teams, along with No. 10 LSU and No. 2 Georgia, who remain perfect against SEC opponents so far.

Juniors Sonya Macavei and Bridget Stammel opened the match with a 6-0 sweep of Priya Nelson and Petra Sedlackova. No. 12-ranked senior Célia-Belle Mohr and freshman Sophia Webster notched their fifth straight win together in a 6-3 defeat of Klara Milicevic and Sara Nayar, clinching the doubles point. Vanderbilt has taken the doubles advantage in nine straight matches.

Sophomore Valeria Ray extended her career-best singles win streak to 14, taking down Maria Andrienko 6-1, 6-3. Mohr added a third point for the Dores after defeating No. 84 Sedlackova 6-0, 7-6 (5). After Alabama took two matches to make the score 3-2, Webster sealed the contest for Vandy. The freshman cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Nelson to deliver the Dores their ninth straight win.

“We had some big milestone wins today for Bridget and Valeria,” Tsoubanos said. “They each picked up their 70th and 50th career singles wins respectively. We are super proud of them.”

The match concludes alumni weekend for the women’s program, which culminated with an in-game recognition of the 2015 national championship team at the men’s basketball game against Missouri on Saturday. Multiple all-time great alumni returned to Nashville over the weekend, including current pro Astra Sharma and three-time All-American Sydney Campbell.

“It was a fantastic weekend for our program picking up two more SEC wins and honoring our 2015 national championship team,” Tsoubanos said. “That was an amazing achievement and it was a proud moment to be able to honor that team. It was wonderful to have so many of our former players back on campus, not only to celebrate, but to engage with our current student-athletes. A big thank you to our director of operations Madison Pinnell for crafting and executing all of the events over the weekend.”

No. 19 Vanderbilt (10-1, 3-0 SEC) returns to the road against Arkansas (3-7, 0-3 SEC) for a 5 p.m. match on Friday. For more information, updates and exclusive game day content, follow the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team, @VandyWTennis, on Instagram and X.

No. 19 Vanderbilt 5, No. 17 Alabama 2

Doubles
1. No. 12 Mohr/Webster (Vanderbilt) def. Milicevic/Nayar (Alabama) 6-3
2. Macavei/Stammel (Vanderbilt) def. Nelson/Sedlackova (Alabama) 6-0
3. Ray/Trinetra Vijayakumar (Vanderbilt) vs. Andrienko/Maria Martinez-Vaque (Alabama) 3-3, unfinished

Singles
1. No. 46 Mohr (Vanderbilt) def. No. 84 Sedlackova (Alabama) 6-0, 7-6
2. No. 94 Ray (Vanderbilt) def. Andrienko (Alabama) 6-1, 6-3
3. No. 41 Stammel (Vanderbilt) def. Martinez-Vaque (Alabama) 6-7, 6-4, 6-3
4. Milicevic (Alabama) def. Macavei (Vanderbilt) 6-3, 6-2
5. Nayar (Alabama) def. Vijayakumar (Vanderbilt) 7-5, 6-2
6. Webster (Vanderbilt) def. Nelson (Alabama) 6-1, 6-1

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