CARY, N.C. — The ITA All-American Championships ended for the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team on Friday. The No. 29 doubles pair of senior Célia-Belle Mohr and freshman Sophia Webster suffered a 2-6, 2-6 loss to No. 16 Jessica Alsola and Moa Mushika of Cal.
“It was a tough afternoon today,” head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said. “Certainly, we were hoping to punch some tickets this week, but this is an incredibly tough tournament with a significant demand physically and mentally to be playing on the final few days.”
Mohr and Webster, coming into the match after an extended super tiebreaker win on Wednesday, were ultimately worn down by the Golden Bears. With the score tied 1-1 in the first set, Alsola and Mushika took control. The Cal duo won 14 of 24 serve points to push forward and claim the set 6-2. The second set got off to a better start for the Dores, as Mohr and Webster jumped out to a 2-1 lead. The rest of the frame was all Cal; they forced Vanderbilt into three unforced errors, and the Golden Bears used three break points to capture the set 6-2. Mohr and Webster were held to their lowest doubles point total in the tournament, combining for 37 points to Cal’s 56.
“I do think, in general, we made some good steps forward and have seen some nice development from the returners,” Tsoubanos said. “In her first collegiate tennis event, I thought Sophia did a nice job, and it was awesome to see her and Célia do well together in doubles. Bridget [Stammel] and Valeria [Ray] played some impressive doubles in the tournament as well, and each had some high quality singles results to build off of.”
The Commodores are set to return to action Oct. 11 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee for the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships hosted by Middle Tennessee.
