On To Florida

AUBURN, Ala. — No. 15 Vanderbilt women’s tennis dropped a road contest 6-1 to No. 8 Auburn Friday evening.

The Dores faced deficits at all three doubles courts to begin play. Junior Bridget Stammel and senior Amy Stevens generated a 6-4 comeback over Ava Esposito and Maria Garcia to pick up the first doubles win. After Auburn evened the score with a victory at the No. 2 position, all eyes turned to a top-25 matchup at the top spot. No. 14-ranked senior Célia-Belle Mohr and freshman Sophia Webster turned a 3-0 deficit into a 7-6 (1) win to clinch the doubles point for Vanderbilt.

Four of the six singles matches went to third sets. No. 56-ranked sophomore Valeria Ray saw her 17-match singles win streak come to an end at the hands of No. 62 Angella Okutoyi 6-3, 6-3. She remains the SEC singles wins leader with 27. A lengthy back-and-forth battle between No. 11 Mohr and No. 4 DJ Bennett went in favor of the Tigers, as Bennett outlasted Mohr 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5). Both Stammel and Stevens forced third sets at their respective positions but were unable to pull out victories.

No. 15 Vanderbilt (12-4, 5-3 SEC) looks ahead to No. 22 Florida (7-7, 3-5 SEC) for a Sunday matchup at noon. For more information, updates and exclusive game day content, follow the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team, @VandyWTennis, on Instagram and X.

No. 8 Auburn 6, No. 15 Vanderbilt 1

Doubles
1. No. 14 Mohr/Webster (Vanderbilt) def. No. 16 DJ Bennett/Ava Hrastar (Auburn) 7-6 (7-1)
2. Merna Refaat/Okutoyi (Auburn) def. Ray/Trinetra Vijayakumar (Vanderbilt) 6-3
3. Stammel/Stevens (Vanderbilt) def. Esposito/Garcia (Auburn) 6-4

Singles
1. No. 4 DJ Bennett (Auburn) def. No. 11 Mohr (Vanderbilt) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5)
2. No. 62 Okutoyi (Auburn) def. No. 56 Ray (Vanderbilt) 6-3, 6-3
3. Hrastar (Auburn) def. No. 44 Stammel (Vanderbilt) 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-1
4. No. 36 Refaat (Auburn) def. Vijayakumar (Vanderbilt) 6-4, 6-3
5. Esposito (Auburn) def. Webster (Vanderbilt) 6-4, 6-1
6. Alice Battesti (Auburn) def. Stevens (Vanderbilt) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (5,2,4,6,3,1)