NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Junior Valeria Ray brought home SEC Player of the Week honors for the second time in her career, helping Vanderbilt to a 2-0 record over the weekend with wins over Notre Dame and No. 7 Michigan.
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Ray produced a 3-0 weekend across singles and doubles. Against the Fighting Irish, Ray defeated Akari Matsuno and Jessica Kovalcik 6-2 and led Matsuno in singles before the match was abandoned at the clinch. On Sunday, Ray was an X-factor for the Dores in a road match against the Wolverines. The junior notched her fourth straight doubles win after moving past Piper Charney and Gabriella Lindgren 6-3. Ray again faced Charney in singles, who entered Sunday as the Big Ten’s highest ranked singles player at No. 3. Charney had not lost a home singles match since March 15, 2025. After dropping the first set 5-7, Ray took the second 6-4, ultimately delivering the Commodores a clinch point with a 6-3 third set to seal the match win.
Sunday marked the highest ranked win of Ray’s career, and clinched Vanderbilt’s qualification into the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. It was the Commodores’ first victory over Michigan since 2008, who missed qualification for just the fourth time in 18 years. Entering Sunday, the Wolverines were 44-1 in their last 45 home matches – the only loss in that span came to No. 17 USC on Feb. 18, 2024.
Ray collects her second SEC weekly honor after being named Player of the Week on March 19, 2025. She led the SEC in regular season singles victories last year and is off to a 3-0 start, in addition to a 4-0 doubles record. Ray currently sits at her highest rankings in singles at No. 17 and doubles at No. 13. Vanderbilt saw its team ranking jump seven spots to No. 12 after downing Michigan.
The Commodores return home Feb. 1 for a matchup with Northwestern at 1 p.m. before turning their focus to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. For more information, updates and exclusive game day content, follow the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team, @VandyWTennis, on Instagram and X.
