KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team pulled out a victory on Saturday evening in the consolation round of ITA Kickoff weekend against No. 21 Miami.
Vanderbilt struck first as the match opened with duo Holy Staff and Sonya Macavei on Court 2 claiming the first doubles victory for Vanderbilt. Following shortly after, No. 17 Anessa Lee and Célia-Belle Mohr defeated Miami’s Alexa Noel and Xinyi Nong 6-2, clinching the doubles point for the Commodores.
Vanderbilt kept the momentum going, taking back-to-back courts. Bridget Stammel claimed the first singles win in straight sets on Court 3, alongside Staff on Court 5. Closing out the match for Vanderbilt was freshman Valeria Ray, defeating the Hurricane’s Leonie Schuknecht and finalizing the win for the Dores.
“Tonight was just an amazing team effort from start to finish. Our doubles were outstanding on all three courts,” said coach Aleke Tsoubanos. “Yesterday after the UT match we talked about the importance of resilience in this game and being able to regroup after some heartbreaking losses and I couldn’t be prouder of the way we competed on every single court today. It was a complete team effort and they earned every bit of this victory over a very tough Miami team. I’m really happy for Holly, Bridget and Valeria to come through after some tough outings and put those three singles points on the board for us. We will enjoy this win and look forward to hosting Memphis next weekend for our home opener on Saturday.”
Singles
1. No. 25 Noel (Miami) vs. No. 14 Mohr 6-4, 4-3, unfinished
2. No. 90 Isabella Pfennig (Miami) vs. Lee 5-7, 5-1, unfinished
3. No. 24 Stammel (Vanderbilt) def. Antonia Balzert 6-1, 6-2
4. No. 75 Ray (Vanderbilt) def. Schuknecht 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
5. No. 95 Staff (Vanderbilt) def. Nong 6-3, 6-4
6. No. 81 Audrey Boch-Collins (Miami) vs. Amy Stevens 7-5, 1-3, unfinished
Doubles
1. No. 17 Lee/Mohr (Vanderbilt) def. Noel/Nong 6-2
2. Ray/Stammel (Vanderbilt) def. Maria Paula Vargas/Pfennig 6-1
3. Boch-Collins/Balzert (Miami) vs. Staff/Macavei 2-5, unfinished
On Deck: Vanderbilt returns home to face Memphis on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 11 a.m.