Tennessee women’s tennis went 2-1 over the weekend at the ITA Indoor National Championship, falling to No. 5 LSU in the first round but defeating No. 15 Virginia and No. 8 Oklahoma State in its consolation matches.
LSU
On Friday, the No. 14 Lady Vols were swept 4-0 by No. 5 LSU. To begin doubles play, Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso fell to LSU’s Kenna Erickson and Ella McDonald 6-4. Aulia and Britez Risso got off to a 4-1 lead but dropped five straight games to give Erickson and McDonald the win.
The Lady Vols bounced back with Vanesa Suarez and Francesca Mattioli defeating Cadence Brace and Addison Lanton 6-4. The win was Suarez and Mattioli’s first this season as a doubles pairing.
The doubles point came down to Saray Yli-Piipari and Maeve Thornton for the Lady Vols. It was a hard-fought matchup, but LSU’s Carolina Kuhl and Alexia Marginean won on a tiebreaker 77-63 to clinch the doubles point.
Things did not go better for the Lady Vols in singles. First to fall was Francesca Mattioli, who was defeated by LSU’s Addison Lanton 6-0, 6-1. Cadence Brace took down Suarez for LSU, winning 6-2, 6-1. It came down to Aulia to keep the match alive against Carolina Kuhl. Her match was closer, but she still fell in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, and the Tigers took the match.
Virginia
The Lady Vols moved on to the consolation bracket, facing No. 15 Virginia on Saturday. The Cavaliers dealt with doubles play quickly. Melodie Collard and Vivian Yang took down Aulia and Risso 6-1, while Kaitlyn Rolls and Isabelle Lacy defeated Thornton and Yli-Piipari 6-0. Collard and Yang are ranked as the No. 4 doubles pairing in the nation.
The Lady Vols were able to put the doubles point behind them, opening singles by winning five first sets. Suarez defeated Virginia’s Vivian Yang 6-3, 6-2 to put the Lady Vols on the board and even up the dual. Kaitlyn Rolls gave Virginia the lead back, though, taking down Elim Yan in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
The next point went to Tennessee’s Francesca Mattioli, who, after winning a tough first set against Martina Genis Salas 77-63, went on to dominate the second set 6-1. The Lady Vols had tied it up yet again.
Aulia gave the Lady Vols the lead, winning a three-set battle against Isabelle Lacy 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Finally, it was Britez Risso who clinched the match for Tennessee, taking down Annabelle Xu 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. The Lady Vols relied on wins from seniors Aulia, Britez Risso and Suarez to take the match 4-2.
Oklahoma State
On Sunday, Tennessee faced off against a fellow consolation match winner, No. 8 Oklahoma State, and won 4-3. The Lady Vols won the doubles point for the first time all weekend, as Aulia and Britez Risso beat Oklahoma State’s Anastasiya Komar and Rose Marie Nijkamp 6-3, and Suarez and Mattioli took down Olivia Lincer and Marcela Lopez by the same margin.
In singles play, Mattioli won by retirement to put the Lady Vols up 2-0. But Luca Udvardy would put the Cowgirls closer, taking down Yli-Piipari 6-3, 6-4. Freshman Audrey Aulia made her season debut for the Lady Vols, but fell to Lopez 6-4, 6-4 as Oklahoma State tied up the dual.
Olivia Lincer defeated Vanesa Suarez in straight sets, winning a tough second set to take the lead for the Cowgirls 6-2, 77-65. Oklahoma State was up 3-2 with both remaining courts locked in 3-set duels.
First, it was Britez Risso who responded after Anastasiya Komar won a grueling second set 78-66 to tie it up, cruising over Komar in the third set 6-2 to tie it up for the Lady Vols. It came down to Catherine Aulia against Rose Marie Nijkamp. Aulia won the first set 6-4, but Nijkamp responded, taking the second set 6-3. Finally, after it got to 5-5 in the third set, Aulia went on a run, winning the next two games easily and taking the match for Tennessee. Once again, it was seniors Britez Risso and Aulia that proved essential for the Lady Vols as they won their final match of the weekend.
Next up
Despite falling in the first round, the Lady Vols return home with two top-15 wins under their belt. They will open up SEC play at home, facing Kentucky on Saturday, Feb. 21, at 1 p.m. ET.
