NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The No. 14 national seed Vanderbilt women’s tennis program is going back to an NCAA Super Regional after earning a 4-1 victory over Clemson in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday at the Lummis Family Tennis Center.
It’s the second time in three seasons, and third in the last five, that the Commodores (22-9) have achieved the feat. Célia-Belle Mohr was the only Dore to claim wins in both singles and doubles as Vandy received a contribution from every member of the lineup.
“It means a lot. We have a pretty seasoned team with a bunch of returners, with Célia kind of leading the way and Bridget another senior,” head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said. “This is a team that has had some pretty big goals going back to the fall, this is what they’ve worked for all year. And to be able to come in here and play a really good, feisty, talented, competitive Clemson team, we’ve played a match that’s felt like this many, many times this season. That’s kind of the blessing, in a way, of being in the SEC, you’ve seen matches like this a lot already.
“And so I think we’ve kind of gone through some growing pains of how do we pull through in a match that feels this way, and today they were able to do it. I’m really proud of them.”
Mohr and Valeria Ray earned straight-sets victories on Courts 1 and 3 to help the Commodores establish a 3-0 advantage, but the Tigers (18-9)—who are 24th in the most recent ITA rankings—got a win from Artemis Aslanisvili at No. 5 in an attempt to turn the match around. Clemson also won the second set on Court 4, but Bridget Stammel clinched it for Vandy after claiming the first set in an extended tiebreaker as well as the first three games of the second set on her way to victory.
It was the second straight day that the senior clinched the Commodores’ win the opening weekend of the tournament.
The match was moved indoors due to rain midway through doubles play, with Dores jumping in front 1-0 just minutes after the action resumed. Mohr and Sophia Webster took advantage of a late break to then serve out a victory on Court 1, with Erin Pearce and Mia Yamakita picking up their second win in as many days at No. 3 moments later.
“I think the doubles point, obviously, was very, very important, winning those matches a minute or two after coming inside helped us grab the momentum,” said Tsoubanos. “And getting two straight-set wins from Célia—who was fantastic—and Valeria to push us to three was impactful for the other courts. As I said to the team after, there was no bigger first set than the one on Bridget’s court because you could just feel Clemson kind of mounting a comeback with a belief of, ‘Hey, maybe if we can sneak that one out, we can turn it around.’ They were leading over there at [Court] 5 and coming back on [Court] 4, and it seemed they felt maybe they could still get through this.
“But that became much more difficult with Bridget getting that set and then getting out to a huge lead there in the second.
“Again, I’m just really proud of the group.”
Vanderbilt will face either No. 3 national seed Ohio State or Notre Dame in the Super Regional, with the two set to play their second round match Sunday in Columbus, Ohio.
For more information, updates and exclusive match day content, follow the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team, @VandyWTennis, on Instagram and X.
Doubles
1. #7 Mohr/Webster [Vanderbilt] def. #57 Jade Groen/Rinon Okuwaki [Clemson] 6-3
2. #15 Ray/Stammel [Vanderbilt] vs. Romana Cisovska/Talia Neilson-Gatenby [Clemson] 5-4 unfinished
3. Pearce/Yamakita [Vanderbilt] vs. Aslanisvili/Sophie Clayton [Clemson] 6-2
Singles
1. #30 Mohr [Vanderbilt] def. Groen [Clemson] 6-3, 6-2
2. #12 Stammel [Vanderbilt] def. #74 Okuwaki [Clemson] 7-6 (6), 6-3
3. #33 Ray [Vanderbilt] def. Cisovska [Clemson] 6-2, 6-3
4. Neilson-Gatenby [Clemson] vs. Yamakita [Vanderbilt] 4-6, 6-4, 2-0 unfinished
5. Aslanisvili [Clemson] def. Pearce [Vanderbilt] 6-3, 6-4
6. Webster [Vanderbilt] vs. Ria Bhakta [Clemson] 3-1 unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (1,5,3,2)
