CARY, N.C. – The Vanderbilt women’s tennis team begins its fall season at the ITA All-american championships, starting Saturday at the Cary Tennis park in Cary, North Carolina. This marks the Commodores’ first competition in over three months.
Head coach Aleke Tsoubanos expressed confidence in her team’s readiness, stating, “The team has worked really hard from the start of our preseason segment through our full 20-hour week training block, and I know they are excited about kicking off the fall season this weekend in Cary.” Vanderbilt will have eight players competing in either singles or doubles draws throughout the tournament.
Senior Sonya Macavei, sophomores Sophia Webster and trinetra Vijayakumar, and freshman yamakita will begin play in the prequalifying round tomorrow. Qualifying starts Monday, with the main draw commencing Wednesday.Championship finals are scheduled for Sunday,September 28.
Vanderbilt enters the fall season with several players ranked in the ITA’s initial 2025-26 rankings. Graduate Célia-Belle Mohr is ranked No. 2 nationally in singles, followed by senior Bridget Stammel at No. 27 and junior Valeria Ray at No. 45. Mohr and Webster, who earned All-American honors last season reaching the quarterfinals, are the No. 12 ranked doubles team and will start in Wednesday’s main draw. Ray and Stammel are ranked No. 37 in doubles,while Yamakita and freshman Erin Pearce debut at No. 43. Yamakita is also No. 15 in the newcomer rankings.
Tsoubanos highlighted her anticipation to see the new doubles pairing of Yamakita and Pearce compete, saying, “I’m eager to see our freshmen, Mia and Erin, compete together in their first collegiate competition as a doubles team.”
The ITA All-American Championships serves as a qualifying event for the NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships. ten singles players and four doubles teams will qualify for their respective NCAA Championships, which will be held November 18-23 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.
More information and updates can be found by following the Vanderbilt women’s tennis team, @VandyWTennis, on Instagram and X.
