After an 18-5 (11-4 SEC) regular season record, the No. 13 Commodores earned a fifth-seed and a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament. Vanderbilt opened with a 4-0 victory over No. 47 Florida before falling in the quarterfinals to No. 6 Auburn 4-2.
Vanderbilt vs. Florida
Vanderbilt opened play on April 17 against the 12th-seeded Gators and pushed ahead from the outset. Sonya Macavei and Amy Stevens got the Commodores going with a 6-3 win over Talia Neilson-Gatenby and Noemie Oliveras. No. 14 Célia-Belle Mohr and Sophia Webster followed with a 6-4 victory against No. 22 Alicia Dudeney and Bente Spee to earn their sixth ranked win of the season and secure the doubles point. When play was called, Valeria Ray and Bridget Stammel were up 5-2 against Rachel Gailis and Nikola Daubnerova.
The Commodores carried this momentum into singles. Vanderbilt’s Stevens picked up the first set 6-0 against Oliveras, who then retired in between sets. This gave Vanderbilt an early 2-0 lead, which No. 10 Mohr extended in her match against No. 30 Gailis. Mohr dominated Gailis 6-1, 6-2 after previously losing to the Gator in straight sets on March 23. To close out the match for the Commodores, No. 52 Stammel earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Neilson-Gatenby. While Ray and Webster’s matches were still midway into the second set when play concluded, Trinetra Vijayakumar was on the brink of victory with a 6-2, 5-3 lead when Vanderbilt secured the win.
Vanderbilt vs. Auburn
In the quarterfinals, Vanderbilt faced fourth-seeded Auburn, which had defeated the Commodores 6-1 in the regular season. Just like the March 21 match against the Tigers, Vanderbilt shot out to an early lead by securing the doubles point. Macavei and Stevens downed Ava Esposito and Maria Garcia 6-2, and Ray and Stammel triumphed over No. 53 Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat 6-3. No. 14 Mohr and Webster were battling No. 19 DJ Bennett and Ava Hraster in a tight 4-3 match when the Commodores took the doubles point.
Vanderbilt’s chances of victory remained bright early in singles play, as three Commodores won their first sets. However, No. 10 Mohr was the only one to pick up the next set, doing so in a remarkable 6-0 fashion against No. 4 Bennett. With that set, Mohr delivered a resounding 6-4, 6-0 takedown of Bennett to redeem her earlier 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) loss to Bennett last month. With Vanderbilt up 2-0, the Tigers mounted a comeback. Alice Battesti delivered a 6-3, 6-2 win over Stevens to put Auburn on the board. From there, No. 59 Okutoyi finished off No. 62 Ray 6-2, 6-2 to knot the score up 2-2. The remaining matches extended into three sets, with an advancement to the semifinals on the line. Auburn’s No. 79 Hraster broke through, churning out two dominant sets over No. 52 Stammel to earn a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory. No. 57 Refaat similarly came back from behind to put down Webster 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 and close out the Commodores. When Auburn secured the victory, Vijayakumar was mounting a comeback of her own in a 6-7, 7-5, 5-1 match against Esposito.
Vanderbilt will look to make a run in the NCAA Tournament in May. The selection show is set to begin at 4 p.m. CDT on April 28.
