ORLANDO, Fla. — Vanderbilt women’s tennis is heading back to the NCAA Championships doubles semifinals after a 6-0, 6-4 defeat of Virginia on Friday at the USTA National Campus.
No. 12 ranked graduate Célia-Belle Mohr and sophomore Sophia Webster took on No. 26 Martina Genis Salas and Annabelle Xu of Virginia in the doubles quarterfinals. After two consecutive three-set matches, the Dores set the tone early, blanking the Hoos 6-0 to notch their first opening set win of the tournament. Virginia hung around in the second set, claiming the initial game on a 40-40 deciding point and creating a break point to even the score 3-3 moments later.
The Hoos took their first set lead of the match at 4-3 soon after. But as Mohr has done all tournament, she took control with her serve when the Dores needed it most. The graduate produced an ace in another 40-40 deciding point to tie things up at 4-4, and Vanderbilt pulled out two more deciding points in the final two games to clinch the match. The result gives Mohr her second doubles semifinals berth in three seasons after advancing alongside Anessa Lee in 2023.
“The Dores got off to a fast start today and really took control of the match from the beginning with great energy and intention,” head coach Aleke Tsoubanos said. “Célia and Sophia served very well, which is key for them, and they also had solid returns, allowing themselves to get into the second phase of points on return games. Second set was a bit back and forth with an early break that UVA got back for 3-3 but at 3-4 Celia service game hold was important and gave us back some momentum to break and serve the match out. Sophia did a wonderful job on first serves with Celia doing a great job up at net. Excited to go after another one tomorrow.
Mohr and Webster converted six of their eight service games against Virginia to go along with six break points. Out of the six total deciding points, Vandy secured five of them. The Dores take an 11 match win streak into the semifinals, three of which have come over ranked opponents.
Vanderbilt is set for a matchup against Oklahoma’s No. 27 ranked Roisin Gilheany and Gloriana Nahum tomorrow at noon. The NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships tournament page is available online with live stats available here. Each match will be streamed on ESPN+, and main coverage will be provided by Cracked Racquets.
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