MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Multiple members of the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team advanced past day one of the main draw at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships hosted by Middle Tennessee.
Four Commodores kicked off the tournament action on Friday for the opening matches of the day. Sophomore Valeria Ray matched up against Louisville’s Elena Noguero on court seven. Ray built an early lead and never looked back, capturing the initial set 6-0. Noguero grabbed her first lead of the match in the second set, but ultimately could not adjust to Ray’s forehand returns. The Commodore closed out the match with a 6-4 second set victory to move on in the singles draw.
Sophomore Sophia Webster took court six against Zeynep Erman of Cincinatti. Webster clinched multiple grueling points but was unable to command the momentum of the opening set; Erman took the advantage with a 6-3 set one win. The Commodore returned the favor in the next frame, collecting multiple serve points en route to a 6-3 set two victory. The final set saw multiple back-and-forth rallies, a wide array of shot types, diving efforts, and high emotion between the two competitors. Webster completed the comeback with a tiebreak 7-6 win in the third set to down Erman and advance to the next round.
Senior Amy Stevens, adjacent to Webster on court five, took on Cincinatti’s Gabrielle Guenther. A slow start led to a 5-1 advantage for Guenther in the first set. However, Stevens settled in and slowly began to chip away. The Commodore stretched out the court with accurate high-arching shots and low forehand strikes, eventually evening the set at 5-5. The scoring run included multiple points from rallies of over 20 shots. Yet, Stevens could not pin down Guenther, and the Bearcat escaped the first set 7-5. Guenther controlled the contest the rest of the way, winning set two 6-0 to claim the match.
Junior Sonya Macavei competed on court nine versus Rosalie Dohnalova of Chattanooga. Macavei dropped the opening set 6-3 and quickly fell behind in the second 4-1. The Commodore locked in with her back against the wall, taking the next three games to even the score 4-4. The set soon went to 5-5, but the comeback effort came up just short. Dohnalova held on for the 7-5 victory in set two to advance ahead in the singles bracket.
Senior Bridget Stammel and freshman Trinetra Vijayakumar each began their matches soon after. No. 34 ranked Stammel faced Tennessee’s Conley Raidt on court one. Stammel consistently worked extended points and wore down Raidt throughout the match. Multiple well-placed shots along the boundary allowed Stammel to pull away in the first set 6-4, eventually taking the second 6-2 for the match win.
Vijayakumar entered Friday a winner of two straight matches after winning both contests in the qualifying round on Thursday; the freshman took down Northern Kentucky’s Darya Gneidina 6-2, 6-0 then defeated Emilia Valentinsson of Miami 6-0, 6-2. She, like Stammel, also drew a Tennessee opponent in the opening round of the main draw, competing against the Volunteers’ Maeve Thornton on court two. Thornton, the 2024 SoCon Freshman of the Year at Furman, had no answer for the energy Vijayakumar brought to the court. The Commodore fought for every ball, letting out empowered yells with each point scored. Vijayakumar executed multiple acrobatic, defensive shots to fend off any potential attempt from Thornton. She took the first set 6-3 and closed out the second 6-2 to continue her singles run into Saturday.
In doubles action, the Dores made quick work of their opponents. Macavei, paired with Vijayakumar, looked for a bounce back win and executed. The duo cruised to an 8-2 victory over Austin Peay’s Alice Bolton and Elina Theil. The No. 64 ranked doubles team of Ray and Stammel continued the momentum, downing Northern Kentucky’s Alyssa Cameron and Ashlee Fisk 8-1. Stevens and senior Naomi Katz squared off against Elle Kotre and Calli Sokolowski of IU Indianapolis with their tournament hopes on the line. Katz fell 6-2, 6-4 to the aforementioned Noguero in Thursday’s qualifying singles round. The senior pair rounded out the day with an 8-4 win, securing their ticket to Saturday.
Vanderbilt is set to open play tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. CT with three doubles matches. Singles play will follow afterwards at 10:30 a.m.
