The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Vanderbilt
No. 16 Women’s Tennis rallies past No. 39 Vanderbilt, 5-2
03.01.2026 | Women's Tennis
The Longhorns twice trailed by one point but used five singles victories two win their second-straight SEC road match.
Nashville – No. 16 Texas Women's Tennis rallied by No. 39 Vanderbilt, 5-2, on Sunday at the Lummis Family Tennis Center in Nashville. The Longhorns twice trailed by one point but used five singles victories to win their second-straight SEC road match.
Vanderbilt captured the doubles point with wins at Nos. 1 and 3, but in between, Texas secured a top-10 win at No. 2. The Longhorns then tied it with a singles win by freshman No. 21 Anasatsia Abbagnato at No. 2, and although the Commodores retook the lead with a win at No. 4, Texas ran off four-straight victories by freshman Mathilde Ngijol-Carré at No. 6, sophomore Eszter Meri at No. 3, sophomore No. 3 Carmen Herea at No. 1 for the clinch, and freshman Elizabeth Ionescu at No. 5 for the final margin.
After doubles, Abbagnato posted a decisive 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 42 Bridget Stammel at No. 2. Freshman Christasha McNeil then had a chance to send her second set to a tiebreaker, but came up just short at deuce and fell to Trinetra Vijayakumar, 6-3, 7-5, at No. 4.
Ngijol-Carré knotted things back up with a 7-6 (6), 6-1 win over Sophia Webster at No. 6, while Meri earned a top-15 win over No. 15 Valeria Ray with an extended first-set tiebreaker, 7-6 (10), 6-2, at No. 3.
Herea then came through with the clinch in comeback fashion by registering another top-40 win over No. 34 Celia-Belle Mohr, 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4, at No. 1. That left just one match unfinished, which was another rally back from a set down, this time by Ionescu, who went to a third-set tiebreaker that she swept, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (0), against Erin Pearce.
Earlier in doubles, it had been Ionescu and McNeil that claimed a top-10 victory over No. 10 Ray and Stammel, 6-3, at No. 2. That came after Herea and Abbagnato fell to No. 2 Mohr and Webster, 6-3, at No. 1, and before Ngijol-Carré and sophomore Salma Drugdova were downed by No. 64 Pearce and Mia Yamakita, 6-4, at No. 3.
The Longhorns will next return home to host No. 28 Alabama at the Texas Tennis Center on Thursday March 5, at 2 p.m. CT.
#16 Texas 5, #39 Vanderbilt 2
Singles – Order of Finish (2,4,6,3,1,5)
1. #3 Carmen Herea (TEX) def. #34 Celia-Belle Mohr (VU) 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4
2. #21 Anastasia Abbagnato (TEX) def. #42 Bridget Stammel (VU) 6-2, 6-4
3. Eszter Meri (TEX) def. #15 Valeria Ray (VU) 7-6 (10), 6-2
4. Trinetra Vijayakumar (VU) def. Christasha McNeil (TEX) 6-3, 7-5
5. Elizabeth Ionescu (TEX) def. Erin Pearce (VU) 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (0)
6. Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (TEX) def. Sophia Webster (VU) 7-6 (6), 6-1
Doubles – Order of Finish (1,2,3)
1. #2 Celia-Belle Mohr/Sophia Webster (VU) def. Anastasia Abbagnato/Carmen Herea (TEX) 6-3
2. Elizabeth Ionescu/Christasha McNeil (TEX) def. #10 Valeria Ray/Bridget Stammel (VU) 6-3
3. #64 Erin Pearce/Mia Yamakita (VU) def. Salma Drugdova/Mathilde Ngijol-Carré (TEX) 6-4
Individual Match Key Moments
(by order of finish)
Doubles No. 1: Mohr/Webster (VU) def. Abbagnato/Herea (TEX) 6-3
Match: Texas held at deuce in the opening game, and Vanderbilt broke for 2-1 and the match.
Doubles No. 2: Ionescu/McNeil (TEX) def. Ray/Stammel (VU) 6-3
Match: The teams exchanged breaks to start, and Texas held at deuce and broke for 3-1. Vanderbilt broke back at deuce and held for 3-3, but the Longhorns closed 3-0, including a deuce-point hold to win.
Doubles No. 3: Pearce/Yamakita (VU) def. Drugdova/Ngijol-Carré (TEX) 6-4
Match: Vanderbilt opened with consecutive deuce points and a 3-0 run. Texas got one break back for 3-1, but the Commodores broke again at deuce for 5-2. The Longhorns broke and held at deuce to get within 5-4, but Vanderbilt served out the match.
Singles No. 2: Abbagnato (TEX) def. Stammel (VU) 6-2, 6-4
Set One: The first five games were breaks until Abbagnato held at deuce for 4-2 as part of a 4-0 run for the set.
Set Two: Abbagnato broke first 2-1, but Stammel broke back at deuce. The players exchanged breaks again until Stammel held for a 4-3 lead, but Abbagnato held at deuce and won nine of the last 10 points for the match.
Singles No. 4: Vijayakumar (VU) def. McNeil (TEX) 6-3, 7-5
Set One: McNeil held to start but Vijayakumar won consecutive deuce points as part of a 4-0 run. The last four games were also breaks, including one at deuce for Vijayakumar for 5-2.
Set Two: The first seven games were on serve, including three deuce-point holds for Vijayakumar and one for McNeil. The players exchange breaks and then holds until Vijayakumar broke at deuce for the match in a game McNeil had led 40-0.
Singles No. 6: Ngijol-Carré (TEX) def. Webster (VU) 7-6 (6), 6-1
Set One: Webster used two deuce-point holds and a break to go from 2-1 down to a 4-2 lead. Ngijol-Carré got the break back for 4-4 and the set was on serve to the tiebreaker.
Set One Tiebreaker: Ngijol-Carré used a 4-0 run for 4-1and but Webster gradually rallied to tie, 6-6, but Ngijol-Carré took the last two points to win.
Sets Two: Ngijol-Carré broke at deuce to start and won eight of nine points for 3-0. Webster broke at love for 3-1, Ngijol-Carré won 10-straight points on the way to a deuce-point break for the match.
Singles No. 3: Meri (TEX) def. Ray (VU) 7-6 (10), 6-2
Set One: Meri broke first for 3-1, but Ray broke back and held for 3-3. Ray broke again for a 5-4 lead, but it was the first of four-straight breaks to the tiebreaker.
Set One Tiebreaker: Meri got out to a 5-1 lead, but Ray just a 5-0 run for a 6-5 lead. The players alternated two points to a 9-8 lead for Meri, and then one point for an 11-10 lead for her until she won the final point for 12-10.
Set Two: Meri broke at deuce and held for 2-0 and held at deuce for 3-1. Ray also held at deuce for 3-2, but Meri won 12 of the last 14 points to win.
Singles No. 1: Herea (TEX) def. Mohr (VU) 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4
Set One: Mohr held at deuce to start, and although Herea broke first for a 2-1 lead, Mohr broke twice at deuce and also held at deuce for 5-2. The last two games were held for Mohr's win.
Set Two: Mohr broke to open, but Herea broke back on a deuce point. The players exchanged holds then breaks and the rest of the set was on serve to the tiebreaker.
Set Two Tiebreaker: Herea took a 5-1 lead, and although Mohr went on a 5-0 run to lead, Herea finished 3-0 to win.
Set Three: Mohr broke for 2-0, but Herea broke back. Herea was the next to break for a 5-4 lead and then served out the match.
Singles No. 5: Ionescu (TEX) def. Pearce (VU) 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (0)
Set One: Pearce started and finished on 3-0 runs with no deuce points in the set.
Set Two: Pearce opened with consecutive deuce points for a hold and break, and the break was the first of three straight until Pearce held for 4-1 on a deuce point. Ionescu got the break back to trail, 4-3, and although Pearce broke again for 5-3, Ionescu closed on a 4-0 run, capped by a deuce-point hold for the set.
Set Three: The players exchanged deuce-point holds for 1-1 and 2-1 for Pearce. Ionescu broke first for a 3-2 lead and held at deuce for 4-2. Pearce got the break back for 4-4, but Ionescu broke again for 5-4 and had a chance to serve it out, but Pearce dodged two match points to break at deuce for 5-5. The players then exchanged holds with Ionescu's at deuce for a tiebreaker.
Set Three Tiebreaker: Ionescu swept the tiebreaker.
Players Mentioned
