Season Rewind

As Vanderbilt Athletics turns the page to the 2024-25 season, the summer break offers an opportunity to reflect on the successes, milestones and top moments 2023-24. Seven programs qualified for their respective NCAA Tournaments and nearly 20 Commodores earned All-America recognition in addition to more than 30 all-conference selections. Vanderbilt placed 88 student-athletes on the Spring SEC Academic Honor Roll, 38 on the Winter Honor Roll and 90 on the Fall Honor Roll, with 96 individuals making the league’s First-Year Honor Roll. More than 100 Commodores received their degrees at May’s commencement and 11 programs posted an APR above the national average including five with a perfect score.

BASEBALL

• Vandy made its 18th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance to extend the nation’s longest active streak.
• The Commodores made the semifinals at the SEC Tournament for fifth time since 2013.
• The Dores recorded 10 wins against ranked opponents, including two against No. 1 Tennessee.
• Alan Espinal and JD Thompson were named all-region by the ABCA while six Commodores earned seven SEC weekly awards.
• Head coach Tim Corbin won his 1,000th career game and registered his 900th win at Vanderbilt

MEN’S BASKETBALL

• Introduced Mark Byington as the 29th head coach of Vanderbilt men’s basketball.
• Byington and his new staff captured the third-ranked transfer portal class heading into 2024-25.
• Fifth-year Ezra Manjon led the Dores with 14.7 points and 3.8 assists per game and hit a buzzer-beater in a win against Texas A&M.
• Senior Tyrin Lawrence scored his 1,000th career point on a buzzer-beating shot to down Florida on Graduates Day.
• Manjon was the Dores’ representative on the SEC Community Service Team and was selected as Vanderbilt’s male recipient of the SEC Brad Davis Community Service Award.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

• Vanderbilt finished the season with a 23-10 record, the program’s most victories since 2011-12, while earning its first bid into the NCAA Tournament since the 2013-14 campaign.
• The Commodores recorded their 28th overall March Madness bid, which is tied for 12th-most in NCAA women’s basketball history.
• Jordyn Cambridge concluded her career with 351 steals, the most in Vanderbilt basketball history by either gender, to be named to the All-SEC Defensive Team and a semifinalist for the 2023-24 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award.
• Iyana Moore, who was named All-SEC Second Team, scored the most points scored by a player in an SEC game this season with a career-high 37 in a Jan. 11 victory at Kentucky.
• Khamil Pierre was named to the All-SEC freshman team after setting a program record with five SEC Freshman of the Week selections.

BOWLING

• The Commodores earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, making their 18th consecutive tournament appearance in the program’s 20-year history. They would advance to the regional final before falling to national runner-up Arkansas State.
• Three Dores—Peters, Varano and Haley Lindley—were tabbed All-America. Peters, now a three-time All-American, earned first-team honors for the first time in her career.
• Vanderbilt bowling opened its season winning its 50th tournament title at the Warhawk Classic, an event where junior Paige Peters claimed the individual crown.
• At the Mid-Winter Invitational, the lineup of Caroline Thesier, Kailee Channell, Alyssa Ballard, Peters and Victoria Varano bowled the seventh 300 Baker game in program history to defeat top-ranked Jacksonville State.
• The bowling team embarked on an international tour with stops in Dublin, Ireland, and Paris, France. Activities included a friendly competition with the Irish National Team and touring opportunities at famous spots, such as St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, the beaches of Normandy and more.

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

• At the NCAA South Region Cross Country Championships, Jackson Scruggs paced the Dores for the first time on the season, leading the team to finishing 14th. He placed 12th among freshmen and 79th overall.
• Freshman Jack DesRoches was named the SEC Freshman of the Week after coming in 18th at the Joe Piane Invitational. He was the second overall and top SEC freshman finisher at the meet.
• Vanderbilt opened its season with a third-place finish at the Belmont Opener where they were led by freshman Brady Bliven.
• On the track, Bliven reset the school record in the 800 meters at the Music City Challenge.
• Freshman Michael Skora represented Vandy at the USATF U20 Championships where he placed fifth and broke the 800 meters school record.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

• The women’s cross country team recorded its best finish at the SEC Championships since Althea Thomas took over as director of cross country and track and field. The team came in seventh, improving from an eighth-place finish in 2022.
• Julia Rosenberg led the Commodores in three meets this season, highlighted by a top-40 finish and a personal-best time in the 6k at the NCAA South Region Championships.
• Three Commodores, led by Rosenberg, placed among the top 40 individually at the Joe Piane Invitational. In 2022, only one Vandy runner ranked in the top 40 at that meet.
• Vanderbilt earned a runner-up finish at the Mountain Dew Invitational where graduate student Caroline Eck placed fourth individually.
• To open the season, the Dores finished second at the Belmont Opener. All of Vanderbilt’s scoring performers placed top 15 individually.

FOOTBALL

• The football team produced its first All-American since 2016 as punter Matthew Hayball was selected by multiple organizations. He broke the school record for career punting average (46.5 yards per punt) and was one of three finalists for the Ray Guy Award.
• Hayball was joined by long snapper Wesley Schelling on the coaches’ All-SEC team, giving Vandy multiple all-conference picks for the first time since 2016. Schelling is the only specialist in Vanderbilt history to earn All-SEC honors from the coaches in multiple seasons.
• Vanderbilt was the least penalized team in the SEC for the second straight season.
• Hayball became Vandy’s first Academic All-American since 2002 while the team also had a program-record five Academic All-District selections. Ethan Barr became the first two-time Academic All-District player for Vanderbilt since 2017.
• The team posted a 3.106 grade-point average during the fall 2023 semester, the best fall semester in the history of the program.

MEN’S GOLF

• The Dores made the NCAA Championships for the 10th-straight season, ending the campaign with seven team titles.
• Vandy had four individuals—William Moll, Gordon Sargent, Cole Sherwood and Jackson Van Partis—win individual titles during the season.
• Sargent, who became the first person to earn their PGA TOUR card through the PGA Tour U. Accelerated program, was runner-up individually at the NCAA Championships.
• Sargent, Matthew Riedel, Sherwood, Moll and Van Paris all earned All-America and all-region honors from the GCAA.
• Sargent and Van Paris were both selected to represent the United States at the 2024 Palmer Cup in Lahinch, Ireland, in July.

WOMEN’S GOLF

• Vandy advanced to the NCAA Championships for a third-straight season and the 13th time in program history.
• The Commodores finished 20th at the NCAA Championships, marking their highest finish since 2014.
• Vanderbilt won the Clemson Invitational with a 12-under 852 total as a team.
• Sophomore Tillie Claggett won the prestigious Patriot All-America, setting a course-record with a 9-under 61 in the final round.
• Graduate Celina Sattelkau earned the 2024 Dinah Shore Trophy Award, presented by the LPGA Foundation, in recognition of her excellent performance on the course, in the classroom and in the community.

LACROSSE

• Paige Gunning extended her program record for career saves with 612, marking four straight seasons with 100-plus saves for the goalkeeper.
• Ahead of the 2024 campagin, Vandy named Jill (Doherty) Kendall associate head coach and added Sophie Leva as an assistant coach.
• The Commodores qualified for the American Athletic Conference Tournament for the fourth time in last five seasons.
• The Dores had four student-athletes earn All-AAC honors including Kemper Robinson (first team) Molly Finlay (second team), Ella Smith (second team) and Taylor Sampone (second team).
• The 2024 campaign marked the fourth season under Beth Hewitt with nine-plus wins.

SOCCER

• Five student-athletes earned postseason SEC honors, with three voted second-team All-SEC and two named to All-SEC Freshman Team.
• Vandy posted eight wins at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex, the most on its’ home pitch since the 2019 season.
• Announced the hiring Casey Derckaz as associate head coach.
• Vanderbilt Alum Alex Kerr was selected in the 2024 NWSL Draft by the Orlando Pride while Maya Antoine signed a professional contract with IFK Norrköping in Sweden.

MEN’S TENNIS

• The Commodores concluded the season No. 42 in the ITA rankings after earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the program’s first appearance in the championship since 2019.
• Vandy picked up four wins over nationally-ranked opponents during head coach Scott Brown’s first season in charge of the program with defeats of No. 53 Ole Miss, No. 21 Auburn, No. 19 South Carolina and No. 39 LSU.
• Danil Panarin joined the program in January and would go on to be named the SEC Freshman of the Year while also earning an invitation to the NCAA Singles Championships.
• Panarin would end the season 52nd in the ITA’s singles rankings while the duo of Jeremie Casabon and Nathan Cox were claimed the doubles title at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship before concluding the campaign ranked 62nd in the country.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

• The Dores won advanced to an NCAA Super Regional for the second time in three seasons after defeating No. 12 national seed Ohio State to win the NCAA Columbus Regional.
• That was one of seven victories over nationally ranked teams Vandy recorded in the spring, the the Commodores also defeating No. 21 Miami, No. 34 Ole Miss, No. 40 LSU, No. 40 Arkansas, No. 42 Ole Miss at the SEC Tournament and No. 38 Wake Forest in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Célia-Belle Mohr earned All-America and first-team All-SEC honors after advancing to quarterfinals of NCAA Singles Championships and finishing the year sixth in the ITA rankings, while she and Anessa Lee advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championship to garner All-America honors as well.
• Valeria Ray was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team after picking up 26 singles victories her first season at the collegiate level.
• Sophomore Bridget Stammel won the singles draw at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championship in October and would go on to end the season No. 66 in the ITA ratings.

SWIMMING

• Junior Kailia Utley became the first Commodore to compete at the NCAA Championships since 1989 when she qualified in the 100 and 200 butterfly in March.
• Vanderbilt scored 194 points at the SEC Championships in February, its highest point total at the event dating back to 2007 when the first the program competed at after being reinstated.
• The Dores set or rebroke 10 individual school records on 14 occasions during the season while also setting new standards in all five relay events.
• A total of 18 members of the program combined to record 41 marks that ended the campaign ranked among the top 10 on the school’s all-time performer list.
• Megan Ciezczak, Abby Francis, Ellie Taliaferro and Utley were all named Academic All-District by College Sports Communicators, with this marking the second year in a row that Utley has received the honor.

WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD

• Veronica Fraley won the NCAA title in the discus, becoming just the third Vanderbilt student-athlete—and first track and field student-athlete since 1997—to win an individual national championship.
• Fraley, Lena Gooden and Sarah Omoregie earned All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, where Vandy compiled its third-best finish in school history.
• During the indoor season, Giavonna Meeks broke the SEC freshman record and registered the No. 2 mark in collegiate freshman history with a 23.04-meter mark.
• The Commodores tied their best finish in program history, placing eighth and tallying 45 points. Scoring came in all disciplines, with 10 student-athletes scoring in eight events.
• Throwers Fraley and Meeks earned postseason awards from the SEC. Fraley was named the SEC Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year, while Meeks was tabbed SEC Indoor Freshman Field Athlete of the Year.
• Fraley will compete in the 2024 Olympics after being named to the USA Olympic Team.

VOLLEYBALL

• Twelve years after representing the United States at the FIVB U21 World Championships, Commodore offensive coordinator Lauren Plum was named an assistant coach for the same team for the 2023 championships.
• On Nov. 8, 2023, the program inked its first-ever signing class, which was made up of six freshmen—Reese Animashaun, Madison Bowser, Taryn DeWese, Hailee Mack, Giovanna Mason and Rachel Ogunleye.
• Former national champion at Kentucky and current professional volleyball player for the Orlando Valkries Azhani Tealer joined the Commodores as an assistant coach in February.
  Volleyball’s first student-athletes, graduate transfers Sydney Conley and Isabella Bareford, arrived on campus on June 1.