Alabama Women’s Tennis Falls to Vanderbilt in the Second Round of the SEC Tournament

Thursday, April 20

Fayetteville, Ark.

12 p.m. CT

Alabama

Vanderbilt

Alabama Women’s Tennis Falls to Vanderbilt in the Second Round of the SEC Tournament

4/20/2023 5:43:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

The Crimson Tide will await its fate in the NCAA Championships, May 17-27

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Alabama women's tennis program fell to Vanderbilt, 4-2, at the Billingsley Tennis Center on Thursday afternoon in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

The ninth-seeded Crimson Tide (12-12, 5-9 SEC) dropped the opening doubles point to the eighth-seeded Commodores (15-10, 7-7 SEC) as Vanderbilt captured consecutive wins on courts one and two, respectively.

In singles, Vandy would claim the opening court in straight sets before Anne Marie Hiser secured the Tide's first point of the match via a 6-4, 6-0 performance on court five. No. 119 Loudmilla Bencheikh would grab Alabama its second consecutive point on court one (1-6, 6-1, 6-3) to even the match at 2-2. However, Vanderbilt would clinch the next two courts to advance to the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.

What Head Coach Jenny Mainz Said:

"Vanderbilt is to be commended for playing a great match today. They had a strong start grabbing the doubles point and took control of the match. We dropped five first-sets in singles, but fought hard to get ourselves back in the match by forcing third sets on three different courts. Unfortunately, our comeback effort was too late."

"It was a bittersweet ending to my collegiate coaching career. I will miss battling in the ever-competitive SEC and playing against the best teams in the country. It's been an honor and a privilege to lead the Alabama Crimson Tide for the last 26 years. I've been blessed to work with high-achieving student-athletes in a Championship culture at the Capstone. I would like to personally thank President Stuart Bell, Greg Byrne, Dr. Karin Lee, Kevin Almond, Jessica Pare and all the UA Administration that supported our program through the years. I would like to think that I left it all on the court. Roll Tide forever."

The Match

Vanderbilt claimed the doubles point via wins on back-to-back courts
After dropping the first singles point, Alabama responded with consecutive wins from Hiser on court five (6-4, 6-0) and No. 119 Bencheikh on court one (1-6, 6-1, 6-3)
With the score tied at 2-2, Vanderbilt would claim back-to-back wins on courts four and six, respectively, to clinch the match victory
Petra Sedlackova was leading 5-7, 6-2, 5-3 on court three when the match went final

Up Next

Alabama will await its fate in the NCAA Championships
Team selection show will be held Monday, May 1, at 5 p.m. CT
Singles selection show will take place the following day, Tuesday, May 2

Results

Doubles

1 | Celia-Belle Mohr/Marcella Cruz (VANDY-W) def. #36 Anne Marie Hiser/Loudmilla Bencheikh (UA) 6-4
2 | Anna Ross/Holly Staff (VANDY-W) def. Petra Sedlackova/Anna Parkhomenko (UA) 6-3
3 | Bridget Stammel/Anessa Lee (VANDY-W) vs. Ola Pitak/Kasia Pitak (UA) 5-4, unfinished

Order of finish (1, 2)

Singles

1 | #119 Loudmilla Bencheikh (UA) def. #34 Celia-Belle Mohr (VANDY-W) 1-6, 6-1, 6-3
2 | #89 Bridget Stammel (VANDY-W) def. Ola Pitak (UA) 6-2, 6-1
3 | #117 Anna Ross (VANDY-W) vs. Petra Sedlackova (UA) 7-5, 2-6, 3-5, unfinished
4 | Anessa Lee (VANDY-W) def. Anna Parkhomenko (UA) 6-4, 6-1
5 | Anne Marie Hiser (UA) def. Holly Staff (VANDY-W) 6-4, 6-0
6 | Amy Stevens (VANDY-W) def. Klara Milicevic (UA) 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2

Order of finish (2, 5, 1, 4, 6)

Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaWTN on Twitter and Facebook and AlabamaWTN on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.

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