Vanderbilt Athletics Has Big Weekend During “Weekend on the West End”: The Anchor
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Vanderbilt athletics were quite busy over the weekend. It felt as if every sport was playing, which is close to true but not quite. In addition to Vanderbilt athletics hosting games in a few different sports during the “Weekend on the West End,” Commodores in other sports went on the road around the country.
It all got started Friday morning as both men’s and women’s cross country traveled to Tuscaloosa and got fifth and fourth place, respectively, at the Crimson Classic.
Luke Churchwell finished 17th overall with a time of 24:28, which was best in the Commodores’ lineup. Sam Darmanie finished 41st overall with a time of 25:03. On the women’s side, Tyla Lumley was eight overall with a 19:59 time. Not far behind her was Claire Petersen who finished nine seconds later at a time of 20:08.
Vanderbilt baseball was also in action on the diamond Friday night. The Commodores played Murray State in two exhibition games that lasted seven innings each. In the first game, Vanderbilt won 7-1 followed by a 10-1 win over Murray State in the second game of the night. It was a good night for Brodie Johnston, who hit a couple home runs between the two games, including a grand slam in the second game.
The lineup as a whole seemed to provide more pop and power as Vanderbilt looks toward the 2026 season, which begins Feb. 13.
On the volleyball court, Vanderbilt volleyball played two games over the weekend and fell to both LSU and Ole Miss. Vanderbilt took on LSU Friday night in what was a tightly contested game. The teams went back and forth trading sets.
Vanderbilt won two of the first three sets over the Tigers, but fell in the fourth set 25-21 as the match went to a tie breaking set. In the tiebreaker, Vanderbilt could not get enough momentum and lost the match in the final set 15-10.
On Sunday, it was nearly an identical story. Ole Miss took two of the first three sets against Vanderbilt before the Commodores won the fourth set 25-19 and forced a second tiebreaker of the weekend. But it was a similar outcome as Friday as Ole Miss won the tiebreaking set 15-11.
But the highlight of the weekend for Vanderbilt athletics happened at FirstBank Stadium. For the first time since 1990, Vanderbilt football took down LSU as the 17th-ranked ‘Dores beat the 10th-ranked Tigers 31-24.
Vanderbilt got the run game going early and it opened up the rest of the offensive playbook against what was a daunting opposing defense heading into the game. Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia put on a great performance, but it was tight end Cole Spence who had arguably the best performance of the game. Spence led Vanderbilt with five catches for 56 yards and a touchdown as he found himself consistently open throughout the game.
Additionally in Vanderbilt athletics, Vanderbilt bowling finished in fifth place at the Chelsea Gilliam Penguin Classic.
No. 3 Vanderbilt dropped games against No. 6 Arkansas State and No. 4 Youngstown State, but ended its opening weekend with a win over Sacred Heart.
Vanderbilt bowling heads to Orlando, Florida next weekend for the Destination Orlando event Oct. 24-26.
- Monday's Commodores Schedule
- This Weekend’s Commodores Results
- Did You Notice?
- Countdown to Vanderbilt’s 2025 Basketball Season Opener
- Commodores Quote of The Day
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Monday's Commodores Schedule
Vanderbilt women’s golf at The Ally, Day 1.
Vanderbilt women’s tennis at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Championships, Day 5.
This Weekend’s Commodores Results
Vanderbilt men’s cross country finished 5th place at the Crimson Classic.
Vanderbilt women’s cross country finished 4th place at the Crimson Classic.
Vanderbilt baseball beat Murray State 7-1 and 10-1 in two exhibition games.
Vanderbilt volleyball lost to LSU 3-2.
No. 17 Vanderbilt football beat No. 10 LSU 31-24.
Vanderbilt volleyball lost to Ole Miss 3-2.
No. 21 Vanderbilt soccer beat No. 4 Tennessee (score).
No. 3 Vanderbilt bowling finished 5th place at the Penguin Classic.
Did You Notice?
Vanderbilt athletics' huge weekend finished with a bang Sunday evening on the soccer field. The No. 21 Commodores took down its arch rival in No. 4 Tennessee in an upset fashion 2-0.
Vanderbilt got the scoring started early in the game at the nine-minute mark with a goal from Reagan Pentz off assists from Olivia Stafford and Courtney Jones.
The two schools competed in a tough game, but in the 82nd minute it was a goal that came off the foot of Sydney Watts that sealed the game. Grace Freeman was credited with the assist on the second goal.
The win marked the first ever top 5 win in program history.
“There are no ceilings. We want to go as far as we can go,” Vanderbilt goalie Sara Wojdelko said.
Wojdelko put on a stellar performance in net. She saved all six shots on net that Tennessee had. Vanderbilt may have been only able to get five shots on goal, but the Commodores made them count against Tennessee goalie Cayden Norris.
Countdown to Vanderbilt’s 2025 Basketball Season Opener
14 days
Commodores Quote of The Day
“It was one of those things where I told him, ‘You have to be careful what you say. He said, ‘Man I really don’t care.’”Early Bennett on Jay Cutler
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.