Tennessee women’s tennis rallied, but came up short against Oklahoma, 4-3.
The No. 7 Lady Vols (7-2, 3-1 SEC) dropped their first match of conference play Friday against the No. 19 Sooners (11-4, 2-2 SEC), who claimed the doubles point and wins on courts 1, 2 and 6.
The Lady Vols once again rolled out two new doubles pairings. On Court 2, Catherine Aulia teamed up with Tennessee newcomer Katrina Scott, and on Court 3, Maeve Thornton and Leyla Britez Risso were paired together for the first time this season.
Thornton and Britez Risso were first off the court for Tennessee, struggling in their first outing as a duo. They fell to Oklahoma’s Julia Garcia Ruiz and Salakthip Ounmuang 6-0 on Court 3.
Aulia and Scott fought hard on Court 2 against Evialina Laskevich and Edda Mamedova but couldn’t tie up the doubles session for Tennessee, going down 6-4 as the Sooners clinched the doubles point.
“We’re looking for consistency,” Lady Vols head coach Alison Ojeda said of the doubles changes. “We’ve got to be able to make opponents play.”
Francesca Mattioli and Vanesa Suarez’s match was suspended, but it was close to being an astounding result for the Lady Vols. They matched up on Court 1 against the nation’s No. 1 doubles pairing in Oklahoma’s Gloriana Nahum and Roisin Gilheany, and were up 5-3 when the match was suspended.
In singles, Saray Yli-Piipari fell to the Sooners’ Gloriana Nahum on Court 6 in straight sets 6-0, 6-3, putting the Lady Vols down 0-2 in the dual. The remaining five courts all went to three sets.
Catherine Aulia put the Lady Vols on the board, winning a duel against Oklahoma’s Chloé Noël, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1. Putting a tough first set behind her, Aulia gained the momentum in the match and cruised to win the next two sets, bringing Tennessee closer but still behind 1-2 in the dual. The win is Aulia’s fourth in a row and puts her at 6-1 in singles play this season.
“She does all those little things well,” Ojeda said of Aulia. “Everything that (she’s) doing in terms of tactics is spot on, [she’s] just gotta trust it and hit the ball, and then she was lights out.”
No. 20 Britez Risso provided the tying point in the dual for Tennessee. She found a rhythm early against No. 30 Julia Garcia Ruiz, taking the first set 6-2 and starting out set two 3-0. But she dropped three straight games en route to losing the second set 4-6. In set three, Britez Risso regained the momentum and didn’t look back, winning 6-1 to tie the dual at 2-2.
The Sooners reclaimed the lead after Katrina Scott lost an exhausting match on Court 1 to No. 71 Evialina Laskevich, 6-2, 1-6, 4-6. The Lady Vols needed Francesca Mattioli and Vanesa Suarez to win their third sets on courts 2 and 5 in order to come back from 2-3.
Mattioli provided the tying point for the Lady Vols on Court 5, defeating Oklahoma’s Salakthip Ounmuang 6-3, 4-6, 6-2. It was all down to Vanesa Suarez on Court 2 against the Sooners’ Edda Mamedova.
Suarez put out a valiant effort, but it was not enough. She lost the first set on a tiebreaker 6 (4)-7 (7). Then in the second set, she fell behind 5-2 and was on the brink, but rallied back with five straight games to win the second set 7-5. In the third set, Suarez battled, but was outlasted by Mamedova, who clinched the match for Oklahoma, winning 6-1. The Sooners won the dual 4-3.
“Oklahoma’s good. They’re darn good,” Ojeda said. “We’ve got to fix a few things in doubles, but in singles, we fought hard, just lost a match.”
The Lady Vols have now dropped five doubles sessions this spring. That had only led to one loss before Friday night, but against a strong Oklahoma team, it came back to bite them.
“I think that we were a bit too emotional in a couple spots,” Ojeda said. “If we can figure that part out just a tiny bit, which we will for sure, then I think we’ve got ourselves a darn good team.”
The Lady Vols drop their first conference match of the season, moving to 7-2 overall this spring. They face No. 71 Arkansas at Barksdale Stadium on Sunday, March 8 at 1 p.m. ET.
