NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Vanderbilt women’s tennis returns to the court for their regular season finale this weekend as they host Mississippi State and Ole Miss in a pair of conference duals. The team kicks off Black and Gold weekend with a 2 p.m. match against Mississippi State before celebrating its senior class prior to Sunday’s 11 a.m. match against Ole Miss.
Thank You, Seniors
Before their final home match Sunday, the Commodores will honor the two members of their senior class, Yufei Long and MaryAnn Rompf. Both women joined the team prior to the start of this season and have made a lasting impact on the program.
Long joined the team out of Boston College and has spent the majority of her senior season with the Commodores on Court 3. The native of Shenzhen, China, boasts a 12-11 singles record and is 16-9 at doubles during her career at Vanderbilt. She is currently working towards a Master’s in public health.
Rompf, who is pursuing a Master’s of Accounting degree, owns a singles record of 8-7 in her career at Vanderbilt, including an undefeated streak in dual matches having won three. At doubles, the Bradenton, Florida, native boasts a 14-7 record and is 6-2 in the spring season.
The senior day ceremony is set to begin at 10:35 a.m. Sunday.
Debriefing
The Commodores split their final road trip of the regular season with a 5-2 win at No. 29 Tennessee before dropping a nail-biting match at No. 11 Georgia, 4-3.
Vanderbilt headed to Knoxville for a showdown with in-state rival Tennessee on Friday. After dropping the doubles point, the Commodores stormed back to take five singles courts en route to the 5-2 final. Anna Ross recorded the match-clinching point with a 7-5 third set win over then No. 30 Rebeka Mertena on the top court. The junior dropped her first set against Mertana before grabbing the latter sets 6-4 and 7-5. Dasha Kourkina, Yufei Long, Marcella Cruz and Holly Staff all picked up wins on their singles courts as well in the matchup.
On Sunday, the Dores took to the courts in Athens, Georgia, where they fell 4-3. After falling in a tiebreak at doubles, the Commodores and Bulldogs split the singles courts as Staff, Lee and Kourkina all picked up wins on their respective courts.
Scouting Report
The Mississippi State Bulldogs come into Nashville ranked 67th nationally and feature three individuals ranked in the latest ITA release. Emmanouela Antonaki is currently ranked 81st nationally at singles with an 18-16 record while Magda Adaloglou and Chloe Cirotte have teamed up to earn the 72nd ranking in doubles.
Another clash of ranked foes takes place Sunday as the 47th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels visit Vanderbilt for the regular season finale. The Rebels feature three ranked singles in Tiphanie Fiquet (39th), Sabina Machalova (65th) and Anaelle Leclercq-Ficher (123rd). The team also finds Rachel Krzyak and Machalova ranked in doubles in the 71st overall spot.
ITA Rankings
- Following an impressive 1-1 weekend against a pair of SEC foes, the Commodores are 36th nationally in the ITA rankings.
- Anna Ross went 1-1 last weekend and moved up two spots in the rankings as she heads into the final weekend of the regular season 44th
- Anessa Lee also moved up a few spots in the latest release as she ranks 69th with a 20-12 season record.
- For the first time this season, Holly Staff is featured in the singles rankings at 86th The sophomore went undefeated last weekend, including a win over then-21st ranked Mell Reasco at Georgia.
- After two strong outings last weekend against top-15 opponents, Staff and Ross jumped nearly 40 spots in the doubles ranking. They now rank 39th nationally with one weekend left in the regular season.
On the Radar
The Commodores await their postseason fate with the SEC tournament bracket set to be announced Sunday evening.
