NASHVILLE, Tenn. — From embracing an identity refresh, to the addition of a 17th varsity program, to the continued growth of the department and its facilities, to maintaining a high level of competitive success highlighted by a national championship—the 2021–22 season was transformative for Vanderbilt Athletics.
Athletics
- Completed an identity refresh in March that featured the introduction of new wordmarks and logos.
- Announced the addition of women’s volleyball as the university’s 17th varsity sport; competition is scheduled to begin during the 2025–26 academic year.
- Unveiled in April detailed plans for the men’s and women’s basketball operations center and practice facility.
- Inducted 11 individuals into the Vanderbilt Athletics Hall of Fame in January.
- Celebrated Vanderbilt’s David Williams II and Toby Wilt’s selection for induction into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
- Announced in October the launch of the Black and Gold Club Network—a new digital platform to connect current and former Commodores across the country and around the world.
- Over 90 percent of student-athlete graduates earned SEC Academic Honor Roll recognition during their career, 20 graduates earned master’s degrees and 35 graduates will pursue a graduate degree next fall.
- Student-athletes finished 2021–22 with a cumulative grade-point average above 3.0 for the 16th straight year.
- Saw Commodore student-athletes combine to complete approximately 2400 hours of community service during the 2021–22 academic year.
Volleyball
- On April 19, Vanderbilt University announced the addition of women’s volleyball as the university’s 17th varsity sport. Enabled by the transformational Vandy United campaign, the sport will begin competition in the 2025–26 academic year.
- Vanderbilt participated in the first officially recognized SEC Tournament in 1979. The university discontinued the sport after the 1979-80 academic year.
- After careful study, Vanderbilt believes a 36-month timeline for implementation offers the program the best chance for sustainable and competitive success, particularly in the Southeastern Conference, which will now sponsor 16 varsity volleyball programs starting in 2025 with the addition of Oklahoma and Texas.
- Spearheaded by Vandy United’s master architectural firm Populous, facility plans include a renovation of the current basketball offices in Memorial Gymnasium for occupation by the volleyball program and the addition of a volleyball locker room.
Men’s Basketball
- Made the program’s first postseason appearance in five seasons and notched a 19-17 finish.
- Advanced to the quarterfinals of the NIT with victories over Belmont and Dayton.
- Won multiple games at the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2016–17; reached the quarterfinals of the event.
- Scotty Pippen Jr. earned Lute Olson All-America and first-team All-SEC honors before going on to sign a free-agent contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.
- In addition to being named the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year, Jordan Wright was named a first-team Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar and was a finalist for the organization’s male Sports Scholar of the Year.
Men’s Golf
- Vandy won the NCAA Palm Beach Gardens Regional and tied for first in the stroke play segment of the NCAA Championships while reaching that event’s semifinals of match play.
- Gordon Sargent was the NCAA individual champion and was also selected the nation’s best freshman after winning the Phil Mickelson Award.
- After claiming four regular season tournament titles in the spring as well as winning both the stroke play and match play portions at the SEC Championships, the Dores finished second in the final GolfStat ratings.
- Sargent, Cole Sherwood, Reid Davenport and William Moll all were GCAA Ping All-America selections.
- Head coach Scott Limbaugh was named SEC Coach of the Year, Sargent was chosen the league’s Freshman of the Year, and Sargent, Sherwood and Davenport all earned All-SEC honors.
Baseball
- Concluded the season with a 39-23 record after advancing to the championship game of the NCAA Baseball Tournament Corvallis Regional.
- Recorded the program’s first combined no-hitter since the 2003 season in a 10-0 victory at Kentucky on April 22.
- A pair of student-athletes—Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Carter Holton—received invitations to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team summer training camp.
- Bradfield and Spencer Jones combined to earn All-America recognition from six organizations after the season.
- The duo of Devin Futrell and Carter Holton were named to three Freshman All-America teams.
- Bradfield was successful on all 46 stolen base attempts on the season—the most in the nation without getting caught—to reach 93 for his career and move within three of the school’s all-time mark in the category.
- Highlighted by first-round selections Kumar Rocker and Jones, six Commodores were selected in the annual Major League Baseball Draft in July.
Women’s Basketball
- Earned a bid to the WNIT in head coach Shea Ralph’s first season, marking the program’s first postseason appearance since 2013–14.
- Advanced to the third round of the WNIT, picking up multiple postseason tournament victories for the first time in the past 13 seasons.
- Collected the program’s first victory over a nationally ranked opponent since 2020 by defeating No. 15 Florida 63-59 in the regular season home finale.
- Jordyn Cambridge was named to the SEC’s All-Defensive Team for the second year in a row; Iyana Moore and Sacha Washington made the league’s All-Freshman Team.
- With 13 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists in an 85-69 victory over Texas A&M in the opening round of the SEC Tournament, Cambridge recorded the first postseason triple double in Vanderbilt history and just the second in the history of the event.
Football
- Began celebration honoring 100 years of Vanderbilt Stadium, including the recognition of the top 100 Commodore student-athletes of the era.
- Earned the program’s first victory under head coach Clark Lea with a 24-21 win at Colorado State and scored a season-high 30 points in a home defeat of Connecticut the opening weekend of October.
- Put together one of the highest-ranked recruiting classes in the program’s history.
- Elijah McAllister was named to the AFCA Allstate Good Works Team, most notable for his work with Turner’s Heroes.
- Former Commodore student-athletes Lynn Bomar and W.D. Spears were named to the Southern Conference’s 100th Anniversary Teams.
Bowling
- Vandy won both the Southland Bowling League and NCAA Lansing Regional titles before finishing third at the National Collegiate Women’s Bowling Championships.
- The Commodores were champions of the Dezy Strong Classic, the Northeast Classic and Stallings Invitational.
- Mabel Cummins and Paige Peters were joined by incoming freshman Victoria Varano representing the United States at the IBF U21 World Games in June.
- Cummins advanced to the semifinal round of the Intercollegiate Singles Championship after the conclusion of the season.
- Cummins and Peters were selected NTCA All-Americans and were joined on the All-SBL teams by Angelica Anthony and Caroline Thesier.
Women’s Golf
- The Dores advanced to the NCAA Championships after winning the NCAA Franklin Regional, their first regional title since 2019 and fourth in program history.
- Finishing as quarterfinalists at the SEC Championships, Vandy joined Auburn and South Carolina as the only three teams to advance to the match-play portion of the event every season since the format was instituted in 2018.
- Celina Sattelkau advanced to the final round of stroke play at the NCAA Championships for the second season in a row, recordings the program’s best individual finish at the event since the 2013–14 season.
- In addition to posting five top-10 results and leading the team in scoring average, Auston Kim was selected to compete at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur for the second time and also qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open. At her last regular season home tournament, she also posted the lowest first-round score in program and tournament history with a 65 during the first round of the Mason Rudolph Championships.
- Head coach Greg Allen was inducted into the Women’s Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame in December.
Women’s Cross Country and Track and Field
- At the SEC Championships in May under first-year head coach Althea Thomas, the Commodores posted their best finish at the meet since 2006.
- The trio of Grace Jensen, Divine Oladipo and Taiya Shelby earned All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, with Vandy’s 4×400-meter relay team also qualifying for the event.
- Oladipo and Shelby qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships and garnered All-America honors.
- In addition to earning all-region honors in cross country, McKenzie Yanek was a USTFCCCA all-academic selection.
- The Dores broke five outdoor records and the mark in four indoor events throughout the course of the spring semester.
- Associate head coach Ashley Kovacs was chosen to serve as an assistant for Team USA at the World Athletics Championships in July.
Lacrosse
- Finished with an 11-7 overall mark after advancing to the championship game of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
- The Dores entered the top 25 of multiple national polls following a season-opening three-game win streak that included a 14-12 victory over No. 12 Notre Dame.
- Head coach Beth Hewitt recorded her 100th career win after Vandy defeated Elon 17-11 on Feb. 25.
- The duo of Gabby Fornia and Bri Gross received honorable mention All-America recognition from both ILWomen and USA Lacrosse Magazine.
- The two were joining on the All-AAC first team by Melissa Hawkins, with three other Commodores—Karlie Bucci, Kayla Rieu and Maddie Souza—earning second-team all-league honors.
Soccer
- Posted the program’s seventh straight season finishing .500 or better after going 8-8-3.
- With a 5-4-1 mark in SEC action, finished at or above .500 for the seventh year in a row in conference play.
- Defeated 10th-ranked Tennessee, 2-1, in overtime in the final home game of the regular season.
- Maddie Elwell, Maya Antoine and Raegan Kelley all earned all-region honors from United Soccer Coaches, with all three also receiving All-SEC recognition.
- Elwell was selected 15th overall in the National Women’s Soccer League Draft by the Washington Spirit in the spring, making her professional debut with the club in June.
Women’s Tennis
- The Commodores won their first two NCAA Tournament matches to advance to a Super Regional against Texas A&M on the way to finishing the year 18-10.
- Vandy ended up No. 2 in the Ohio Valley region as well as 26th in the country in the final ITA rankings.
- Anna Ross received an invitation to the NCAA Singles Championship that followed and would go on to earn All-America honors with Holly Staff after reaching the quarterfinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship.
- A second-team All-SEC selection, Ross was also the ITA’s Arthur Ashe Leadership & Sportsmanship award winner for the region.
- Staff and Anessa Lee were voted second-team all-league as well while both finishing in the top five of the region singles rankings.
Men’s Cross Country
- The Dores finished in the top half of the field at the NCAA South Regional.
- Vandy received All-Academic honors as a team from the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
- Nicholas Laning was voted first-team Academic All-America and Academic All-District by the College Sports Information Directors of America. He also recorded top-25 results at both the NCAA Regional and SEC Championships while becoming just the second male to ever be named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year twice.
- Matthew Estopinal was a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, adding all-region honors with a top-25 finish at the NCAA South Regional in November.
Men’s Tennis
- A 14-12 overall record marked the fourth time in the past five seasons that Vanderbilt has finished above .500.
- After being named first-team All-SEC for the first time in his career, George Harwell was selected to play in the NCAA Singles Championship, becoming the first Dore to compete in the tournament since 2018 and 15th in program history.
- Harwell picked up his 100th career singles win after defeating No. 14 Adam Walton from fifth-ranked Tennessee in the regular season home finale.
- Harwell ended the season fifth in the region and 35th nationally in the final ITA rankings of the season.
- Joubert Klopper was No. 11 regionally and among the top 100 in the country in the last set of ITA ratings.
- Returning as a fifth-year senior for the 2022-23 season, Macsen Sisam posted a 15-4 overall singles record, including an eight-match win streak to conclude the season.
Swimming
- Won five of seven dual meets during the regular season.
- Hanako Batt and Alina Stout were each named second-team Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars.
- Faith Knelson and Kailia Utley both recorded marks that met the NCAA B Standard during the season.
- In addition to qualifying for finals at the SEC Championships, Utley competed in three events at the CSCAA National Invitational.
- Knelson and Utley were joined by Tonner DeBeer and Gabriela Pierobon Mays in breaking school records during the course of the season.
- Batt was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to be an English teaching assistant in the Canary Islands.
