ROME, Ga. — Senior Célia-Belle Mohr and freshman Sophia Webster punched their ticket to the NCAA Doubles Championships with a comeback 6-7 (5), 6-0, 10-5 win at the ITA Conference Masters Championships hosted by Berry College.
“I’m super proud of all of [our qualifiers] and not at all surprised that they’ve qualified for NCAAs this fall,” head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said. “They’re all capable of playing a very high level and, when committed physically and emotionally, they are all tough competitors.”
The Dores entered Sunday with two doubles playoff matches on tap, both for a qualifying spot in the NCAA Championships. No. 29 ranked Mohr and Webster squared off against Sacramento State’s Maddy Ferreros and Irene Riva. The opening of the match saw eight straight break points, four from each pair, to set up a 1-1 split early. The Hornets quickly took control afterwards, jumping out to a 4-1 lead in the set. Despite a fierce effort from Mohr and Webster to regain momentum, Ferreros and Riva hung on to claim the first set.
The Dore duo simply dominated the second set en route to a 6-0 result. Mohr and Webster won 24 of 29 total points in the frame, while converting 9/10 serve points and taking three break points as well. With the score even, the match headed to a 10-point deciding tiebreaker.
The momentum continued to swing the way of Vanderbilt, as Mohr and Webster went on a 4-1 run to begin the tiebreaker. Sacramento State managed to bounce back behind key serving points, eventually tying the score at 5-5. The Dores did not look back with the match in the balance. Mohr and Webster captured five consecutive points to clinch the set and match, sealing their NCAA doubles qualification. Ray, who qualified in singles yesterday, and Webster both earned their first career NCAA qualification this weekend, joining Stammel as first-time qualifiers.
“It honestly feels rewarding to qualify and see that all the work we have put in throughout the semester has paid off,” Ray said. “I’m really excited to go to Waco and continue competing the way I have this fall. We will see how far we can go in the tourney.”
“It feels amazing to qualify as a freshman,” Webster added. “I had no expectations coming in to Vandy and going to NCAAs in my first year. But Célia and I had a great opportunity to come and earn a spot. I’m so excited to go to Waco and compete among the best players in the country. We are going to go into this next tournament and just give it our all, play aggressively, and compete super hard.”
In the ITA Sectional Championships hosted by Georgia, No. 64 ranked Bridget Stammel and Valeria Ray entered a conference matchup versus Anaelle Leclercq-Ficher and Ludmila Kareisova of Ole Miss. With hopes of adding to the qualifying roster, Stammel and Ray fell behind early. A competitive first set eventually went the way of the Rebels, 7-6 (6), and the Dores were unable to build back afterwards. Ole Miss secured the win with a 6-3 second set, eliminating Stammel and Ray from NCAA doubles contention.
“The format of this fall is very different and all it takes is one day of great play by an opponent to be the difference between you making and not making the tournament,” Tsoubanos said. “Fortunately for Valeria in singles and then Célia and Sophia in doubles, they still had an opportunity after their losses yesterday to play again and advance. I think all three of them wanted it pretty badly, and sometimes that can actually prevent you from playing your best. So it was awesome to see them all come through in that final opportunity.”
Vanderbilt will send four total players to the NCAA Championships, taking place Nov. 19-24 at host school Baylor; No. 34 Stammel and Ray are set to compete in singles while Mohr and Webster will play in the doubles draw. The four qualifying Dores are the most Vanderbilt has sent to the NCAA Championships since sending four in 2016.
“It’s actually a pretty quick turnaround, a week from today we will depart for Waco,” Tsoubanos said. “So after a day off, we’ll have the remainder of the week to prepare. At this point, we aren’t going to reinvent the wheel, but we still want to get really sharp and make sure we feel good about where we are physically going into next week.”
The NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships tournament page is available online. Selections will be released tomorrow at 11 a.m. CT, with brackets to be released Nov. 16. For more information and updates on the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team, follow @VandyWTennis on Instagram and X.
Results:
No. 29 Mohr/Webster (Vanderbilt) def. Ferreros/Riva (Sacramento State) 6-7 (5), 6-0, 10-5
Anaelle Leclercq-Ficher and Ludmila Kareisova (Ole Miss) def. No. 64 Stammel/Ray (Vanderbilt)
