Waco, Texas — The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team suffered two singles defeats on Tuesday at the NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships hosted by Baylor, bowing out of the singles draw.
Waco ready 😤
🏆 @NCAATennis Singles & Doubles Championships
📍Waco, Texas
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Sophomore Valeria Ray opened the day for the Dores against Stanford’s Alexis Blokhina. Blokhina opened the set with a 4-0 game run before Ray could respond. The Cardinal held down the remainder of the set for a 6-1 advantage in the first frame. Ray began to battle in the second set, which was a 2-2 split after the first four games. Blokhina then regained control and ultimately outlasted the Commodore 6-3 to win the match and advance.
No. 34 ranked Bridget Stammel looked to produce a different result for Vanderbilt, taking on Oslem Uslu of Virginia Tech. The junior battled back and forth with Uslu early, as neither player could generate momentum with their serve. The competitive play continued, with the set eventually moving to a 6-6 tie. The two were nearly inseparable in the tiebreaker, but at 7-7 Uslu managed to pull away. The Hokie held on for a 9-7 tiebreak win to take the first set. Uslu then clamped down in the second set, enforcing the pace of play en route to a 6-2 set and match win. The normally fundamental Stammel was forced into multiple mistakes by Uslu: the Dore had a total of six unforced errors in the match, along with six break points to Uslu’s eight.
Remaining for Vanderbilt is the No. 29 ranked duo of senior Célia-Belle Mohr and freshman Sophia Webster. The two already have a deep tournament run under their belts after advancing to the doubles quarterfinals at the ITA All-American Championships. They will look to generate another winning run with the Dores’ tournament hopes on the line, starting with Kavya Karra and Stephanie Yakoff of Harvard tomorrow.
Mohr and Webster are set to start at 2 p.m. CT on Wednesday from Baylor’s Hurd Tennis Center in Waco, Texas. The tournament will continue to be streamed on ESPN+, with coverage provided by Cracked Racquets.
