The No. 15 Vanderbilt women’s tennis team defeated No. 19 UCF 4-1 in its second home match of the season.
The top 20 matchup saw the Dores clinch the doubles point with wins from Marcella Cruz and Celia-Belle Mohr and the duo of Anessa Lee and Bridget Stammel.
In singles, Lee extended her win streak to 12 with back-to-back 6-0 set victories. Amy Stevens won a hard-fought battle in a second-set tiebreak on Court 5 to put Vandy within one. Ultimately, Stammel won it for the Dores in the third set.
“That was a heck of a college tennis match. UCF is a very good team. I thought we competed really well in doubles and singles and took some momentum from the doubles point into singles sets,” head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said. “Anessa Lee continues to impress, and I thought Holly [Staff] getting to her second set when she did was really important for the emotional energy of the dual. Amy pulling through her second set tiebreak was huge to keep momentum for the team, and it was obviously huge for Bridget to regroup and clinch the match.”
Singles
No. 48 Marie Mattel (UCF) def. No. 34 Mohr 7-5, 6-2
Staff vs. Stefani Webb 4-6, 6-3, 4-2, unfinished
Stammel def. Noel Saidenova 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Lee def. Sophia Biolay 6-0, 6-0
Stevens def. Jaleesa Leslie 6-3, 7-6 (7-0)
Cruz vs. Nandini Sharma 5-5, unfinished
Doubles
Staff/Ross vs. Mattel/Saidenova 5-4, uf
Mohr/Cruz def. Jantje Tilbuerger/Stefani Webb 6-1
Stammel/Lee def. Biolay/Sharma 6-3
Vanderbilt will finish out its nonconference home schedule at 1 p.m. CT on Feb. 26 against MTSU.
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