CARY, N.C. — Vanderbilt women’s tennis continues into Friday, as the Dores overcame two early singles losses to capture an appearance in the ITA All-Americans doubles round of eight.
The day opened with a match between in-state competitors: No. 3 Célia-Belle Mohr and No. 62 Elza Tomase of Tennessee. The two began play as light patches of rain fell throughout the morning, leading to a slick court that Tomase took advantage of. The Volunteer delivered three first-set aces, using powerful serves with a mix of shot shapes to keep Mohr moving around. Tomase jumped out to a 5-0 lead and took hold of the initial set 6-1.
Mohr came out much differently in the second set. The senior opened with a quick first game win and applied more pressure in her serve returns. Both players went back and forth, but Mohr took advantage of four unforced Tomase errors and used two break points to win the set 7-5. The comeback effort used a lot of energy, however, and the Commodore eventually ran out of steam. Tomase won 24 of the 34 points in the third set en route to a 6-1 victory, finishing the match. The result was not the only ranked upset on Thursday, a day in which the top three singles seeds all lost.
No. 34 Bridget Stammel looked for a different result in her round of 32 singles match. The junior faced Pepperdine’s No. 8-ranked Savannah Broadus. The two split the opening pair of games, but Stammel could not get any closer in the first set. Broadus rattled off five game wins in a row, taking a 5-1 lead and ultimately the set, 6-2. A delay was then given due to rain in between sets. The break did not do much to affect Broadus: she returned to play and pushed ahead to a 4-1 second set lead. Stammel fought back with her tournament life on the line, winning seven of the next eight points. But Broadus held strong, grinding out a 6-2, 6-3 match victory to end Vanderbilt’s singles draw.
Mohr’s tournament was not yet over: she, alongside freshman Sophia Webster, returned for Vanderbilt’s doubles round of 16 match against No. 12 Jade Otway and Isabel Pascual of TCU. The match was moved indoors due to weather. The pair played fundamental tennis in the opening set, committing no errors and capitalizing on the Horned Frogs’ three. TCU still maintained a lead for most of the set, leading at one point 5-4. The Dores, though, were just too much to put away, as Mohr and Webster went ahead to win the first set 7-5.
The second set became a grueler. Vanderbilt looked to have seized control of the match up 3-1 and with serving advantage. TCU then shifted the momentum, taking another 5-4 set lead; the Horned Frogs executed this time to even the match 1-1. Mohr and Webster opened the super tiebreaker with a 4-1 run before Otway and Pascual rallied, trimming the lead to 5-4. The Dores were not deterred with the match in the balance. They pushed the score to 9-5 and, after letting two match points slip away, Webster lasered a backhand winner across the court for a 10-7 super tiebreaker win.
Mohr and Webster play in the doubles quarterfinals Friday at 4 p.m. CT versus Cal’s No. 16-ranked pair Jessica Alsola and Moa Mushika. The Dore duo has ranked wins over the No. 13 and No. 29 doubles teams thus far.
