KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Led by a trio of individuals seeded in the top eight, Vanderbilt women’s tennis picked up five singles victories in the opening round of the main draw of the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships Friday at the Goodfriend Tennis Center.
Bridget Stammel and Valeria Ray—the third and fifth seeds, respectively—both dropped a total of four games in advancing to the Round of 32. Stammel, ranked 27th in the ITA, swept Valeria Chaikovskaia of Murray State 6-2, 6-2 while ITA No. 45 Ray earned a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Middle Tennessee’s Rutuja Chaphalkar. The eighth seed in the tournament, Mia Yamakita, was a 6-0, 6-1 winner over Ida Clement of Purdue as well.
Sophia Webster added a victory in straight sets also after beating Butler’s Chase Metcalf 7-5, 6-4, with Erin Pearce advancing to the second round too after rallying for a 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 win over Fatima Gutierrez from Purdue.
The Commodores return to action at the event on Saturday, beginning at 8 a.m. CT when the top-seeded team of Célia-Belle Mohr and Webster along with the pairs of Stammel and Ray and Yamakita and Pearce play in the second round of the doubles draw. Webster and Yamakita are set to play their second-round singles matches at noon, with Stammel and Ray scheduled to return to the court for singles at 1:30 p.m. and Pearce’s match in the Round of 32 slated to get underway at 2 p.m.
The ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships tournament page is available online with live streaming available here.
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Day 1 Results:
SINGLES
Erin Pearce (Vanderbilt) def. Fatima Gutierrez (Purdue) 5-7, 6-0, 6-3
No. 27 Bridget Stammel (Vanderbilt) def. Valeria Chaikovskaia (Murray State) 6-2, 6-2
Mia Yamakita (Vanderbilt) def. Ida Clement (Purdue) 6-0, 6-1
No. 45 Valeria Ray (Vanderbilt) def. Rutuja Chaphalkar (Middle Tennessee) 6-4, 6-0
Sophia Webster (Vanderbilt) def. Chase Metcalf (Butler) 7-5, 6-4
Ece Gencer (Purdue) def. Sonya Macavei (Vanderbilt) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
Alice Otis (Louisville) def. Trinetra Vijayakumar (Vanderbilt) 6-4, 6-3
DOUBLES
Wilson/Gencer (Purdue) def. Macavei/Vijayakumar (Vanderbilt) 8-6
