Three Named All-SEC

Lee, Ross and Staff tabbed to All-SEC second team

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Following a strong run in the SEC Tournament last week, three from Vanderbilt women’s tennis have been named All-SEC as announced by the conference Thursday. Junior Anna Ross and the sophomore duo of Anessa Lee and Holly Staff were each named to the all-conference second team having played the majority of the season on the top three courts for the Commodores. This is the first conference honor for all three Dores.

Ross played the entirety of her season on the top court in both doubles and singles where she amassed eight wins in singles and boasted a 13-7 record at doubles. Against nationally ranked opponents, the junior recorded three victories while reaching a career-best No. 37 ranking herself following an undefeated weekend early in February.

Lee was named to the second team after a 22-13 record in her second season with the Commodores. In dual play, Lee was 14-8, including an 11-5 record on Court 2 singles. Most recently the sophomore clinched match point against Ole Miss in the second round of the SEC tournament to send her team on to compete with top-seeded Texas A&M. Against ranked individuals, she went 5-5. At doubles, Lee owned an 18-14 record, including seven wins in dual play. Ranked for the majority of the spring season, Lee reached as high as 69th nationally, a career-best.

Staff went 21-12 in her sophomore season enroute to the conference honors. In her second season, Staff jumped into the rankings following two strong perfomances against ranked opponents in early April. In her first collegiate national ranking she sat 86th nationally, a career-best. Pairing up with Ross on Court 1 doubles for most of the dual season, Staff and her partner now rank 33rd in the nation heading into the NCAA postseason tournament. The duo went 6-2 on the top court this spring, including two victories over ranked foes while one of their two losses came at the hands of the third-ranked Aggie pair in the SEC Quarterfinals.

The trio of honorees, along with the rest of the Commodores, will learn of their postseason fate during the NCAA Tournament selection show at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. The individual tournament bracket will be announced the following day, and both can be found at NCAA.com.