NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Coming off back-to-back road victories, including a 4-3 comeback win over No. 12 Tennessee on Rocky Top, No. 11 Vanderbilt women’s tennis brought home its fifth conference weekly award of the season after freshman Erin Pearce was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Wednesday.
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The honor is Pearce’s second this year; she was named SEC Freshman of the Week on March 11 for delivering the clinch point against No. 1 Georgia. The win gave Vanderbilt its first victory over a top-ranked team since 2018. Pearce now becomes just the second player in program history to bring home Freshman of the Week honors twice in the same season, previously only accomplished by Fernanda Contreras. Contreras, a multi-time All-American as well as the program’s record holder for singles wins in a season and throughout a career, achieved the feat on Jan. 27 and April 18, 2016.
Pearce generated the third ranked singles victory of her debut season against Tennessee, downing No. 92 Catherina Aulia 6-3, 1-6, 6-4. The win was the first point on the board for No. 11 Vanderbilt, who trailed 2-0 before finishing off the comeback over the Volunteers. The freshman followed that performance with a victory in both singles and doubles play against Kentucky. She moved past Zoe Hammond and Ellie Myers 6-2 alongside sophomore Sophia Webster, helping the Commodores secure the opening point. Pearce then posted a dominant performance against the Wildcats’ Elena Moll, swiftly collecting a 6-2, 6-0 win to again notch Vandy’s first singles victory. She now leads all Vanderbilt underclassmen in ranked dual match single wins and is currently tied for second on the team in overall dual match wins with 15.
Wednesday’s awards announcement gives Vanderbilt its most conference weekly awards in a season in program history. Pearce makes up a list of graduate Célia-Belle Mohr and junior Valeria Ray, who were named SEC Player of the Week, in addition to fellow freshman Mia Yamakita as Commodores who have secured SEC weekly awards throughout the 2025-26 campaign. Until today, the 2024-25 squad had held the title for most conference weekly honors in the same season with four. Vandy now has seven total teams in program history to secure multiple SEC weekly honors in the same year.
No. 11 Vanderbilt eyes its sixth top-15 matchup as the Commodores host No. 6 Oklahoma on Thursday at 5 p.m. from the Lummis Family Tennis Center. For more information, updates and exclusive match day content, follow the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team, @VandyWTennis, on Instagram and X.
