No. 22 Florida Women’s Tennis Falls to No. 15 Vanderbilt

On a sunny, blue-skied Sunday, the No. 22 Florida Gators women’s tennis (7-8, 3-6 SEC) team hosted yet another conference opponent and fell to a second straight SEC team at home in its 5-2 loss to the Commodores.

Despite a recent loss to Auburn, No. 15 Vanderbilt (13-4, 6-3 SEC) began conference play with a perfect 4-0 record and looked to get back in the win column in its visit to Florida. The Commodores did just that, stunting any momentum Florida hoped to build and dominating in their sixth conference win.

Doubles

No. 60 UF seniors Alicia Dudeney–Bente Spee couldn’t keep up with senior Célia-Belle Mohr and freshman Sophia Webster, the No. 14 ranked doubles pair in the nation, on court one. Despite an early 2-2 tie, the Commodores ultimately ran away with the match 6-2.

Freshmen Talia Neilson-Gatenby–Noémie Oliveras found themselves trailing junior Bridget Stammel and senior Amy Stevens 3-0 on court three. The freshmen couldn’t muster up a comeback as they dropped to 3-5. From there, a  Neilson-Gatenby double fault secured Vanderbilt a 6-3 win on court three and a 1-0 lead entering singles play.

Junior Rachel Gailis and freshman Reagan Parker surprised sophomore Valeria Ray and freshman Trinetra Vijayakumar by breaking the Commodores in the second game and taking a 3-0 lead. However, the Gators’ impressive performance and 5-3 lead were overshadowed by Vanderbilt winning the doubles point.

Singles

Neilson-Gatenby retired in the second set of her match against No. 44 Stammel, giving Vanderbilt a 2-0 lead. The freshman fell 6-1 in the first set and trailed 3-0 in set two before medically retiring due to injury.

Talia Neilson-Gatenby retires on court 3.

Vandy 2️⃣, UF 0️⃣

— Gators Women's Tennis (@GatorsWTN) March 23, 2025

Parker was no match for Stevens on court six, as the Commodore breezed to a straight-set victory. Stevens’ 6-2, 6-0 win earned Vanderbilt its third point and pulled it one point from victory.

Finally, Vanderbilt’s Webster clinched the match for the Commodores with a convincing 6-1, 6-2 victory over Oliveras on court six.

Spee dropped the first set 6-2 to Vijayakumar on court four and couldn’t battle back in set two. Spee’s 6-2, 6-3 loss moved the score to 5-0 as Vanderbilt continued to dominate.

Spee falls

Vandy 5️⃣, UF 0️⃣

— Gators Women's Tennis (@GatorsWTN) March 23, 2025

No. 91 Dudeney dropped her first set against No. 56 Ray, 6-1, but refused to go out quietly. Dudeney roared back with a 6-0 sweep in set two to force a ten-point super tiebreaker. From there, the Gator dug deep, battled hard and took a 10-8 victory to earn the Gators their first point of Sunday’s contest.

No. 39 Gailis took set one 6-3 in a court-one battle against No. 11 Mohr, proving her ability to compete with the best players in the nation. From there, she battled to yet another 6-3 win in set two to win Florida their second point of the match and conclude Florida’s top-25 matchup with Vanderbilt, 5-2.

Up Next

Florida will look to regroup this week before it hosts yet another conference opponent on Friday. Arkansas has been struggling as of late and will visit the Gators at 5 p.m. on Friday with both teams looking to get back on track with a win.