AUBURN, Ala. — No. 5 seed Vanderbilt women’s tennis put a complete performance together in its SEC Tournament opener at Auburn, downing No. 12 seed Florida 4-0 at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
The Dores began the match by snatching the doubles point for the first time in three matches. Junior Sonya Macavei and senior Amy Stevens kicked off the action for Vandy at No. 3 doubles, downing Talia Neilson-Gatenby and Noemie Oliveras 6-3. After falling behind early, No. 14-ranked senior Célia-Belle Mohr and freshman Sophia Webster rallied for a 6-4 victory against No. 22 Alicia Dudeney and Bente Spee to clinch the doubles point. It is the duo’s sixth ranked win together this season.
“It was nice to come out with a strong perfomance in doubles,” head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said. “I think we played a really nice, clean, aggressive doubles on all three courts. We were able to build momentum and take that into singles play.”
Vanderbilt generated first set leads at five of the six singles courts. No. 62-ranked sophomore Valeria Ray was the lone Dore to drop the opening frame after suffering a back-and-forth 7-6 (5) tiebreak defeat. No. 10 Mohr quickly claimed a 6-1 first set over No. 30 Rachel Gailis; Gailis downed Mohr 6-3, 6-3 in their last meeting from Gainesville. Stevens picked up the Dores’ second point of the day after Oliveras retired in between sets. She increases her win streak to eight, the longest of her career. Mohr then put the black and gold up 3-0, finishing off Gailis 6-2 in the second set.
No. 52-ranked Stammel and freshman Trinetra Vijayakumar each built up second set advantages to put the Gators on the brink of defeat. And with both getting opportunities to clinch the match, it was Stammel who notched the final point of the day with a 6-4, 6-4 takedown of Neilson-Gatenby. She moves to 13-4 for Vanderbilt at the No. 3 singles position.
“We really didn’t let up on any of the courts in singles,” Tsoubanos said. “I thought, overall, it was a really solid performance and we’re looking forward to getting another opportunity against Auburn tomorrow. […] That was some really, really impressive tennis by Célia today against Rachel Gailis, who is one of the best players in the country. For her to put together two, quite frankly, quick sets against Gailis, I think it helped the momentum on every other court. That was a very different match just a few weeks ago. She brought the energy today, and that spilled out onto the other courts and helped fuel us to a win.”
No. 13 Vanderbilt faces host school No. 6 Auburn, the tournament’s fourth seed, tomorrow at 3 p.m. in the quarterfinals. The Dores fell 6-1 on the road against the Tigers on March 21; they have not generated a win in the series since 2021. For more information, updates and exclusive game day content, follow the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team, @VandyWTennis, on Instagram and X.
No. 13 Vanderbilt 4, No. 47 Florida 0
Doubles
1. No. 14 Mohr/Webster (Vanderbilt) def. No. 22 Dudeney/Spee (Florida) 6-4
2. Ray/Stammel (Vanderbilt) vs. Gailis/Nikola Daubnerova (Florida) 5-2, unfinished
3. Macavei/Stevens (Vanderbilt) def. Neilson-Gatenby/Oliveras (Florida) 6-3
Singles
1. No. 10 Mohr (Vanderbilt) def. No. 30 Gailis (Florida) 6-1, 6-2
2. No. 62 Ray (Vanderbilt) vs. No. 53 Dudeney (Florida) 6-7 (5), 2-3, unfinished
3. No. 52 Stammel (Vanderbilt) def. Neilson-Gatenby (Florida) 6-4, 6-4
4. Webster (Vanderbilt) vs. Spee (Florida) 6-3, 3-3, unfinished
5. Vijayakumar (Vanderbilt) vs. Daubnerova (Florida) 6-2, 5-3, unfinished
6. Stevens (Vanderbilt) def. Oliveras (Florida) 6-0, 0-0, retired
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (6,1,3)
