Tennessee women’s tennis started off tournament play with a win, taking down Old Dominion 4-2.
The Lady Vols (14-9) dethroned the Monarchs (13-6) on Friday in Durham, taking the doubles point and straight-set wins on courts 1, 4 and 5 to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the seventh straight season.
“They’re a good team,” Lady Vols head coach Alison Ojeda said. “It makes sense why they win their championship year after year. They’re ball strikers, and the thing that our team needs to learn from this match is that we can withstand big hitters. We train to be able to make adjustments when we need to, and the girls did an outstanding job of that today.”
The senior duo of Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso got rolling early with a 6-1 win over Marina Markina and Uladzislava Manzhos on Court 2, getting an early break to go up 3-1 and never looking back from there.
It took a couple of games for the Lady Vols to get into form on the other courts, but after a pair of breaks, it was Francesca Mattioli and Vanesa Suarez who brought home the doubles point, taking care of Kira Matushkina and Victoria Matasova, 6-3 on Court 1.
Katrina Scott and Maeve Thornton were also serving for the doubles point, up 5-3 on Court 3 over Ulyana Romanova and Lidiia Rasskouskaia.
“It was just us remembering that patience is a good thing,” Ojeda said. “We’ve got to be willing to go for our shots, but in going for shots, you can’t make quick errors.”
The Lady Vols and the Monarchs split the first sets in singles with three each.
Tennessee’s top player led the way in singles. Scott defeated Matushkina 6-2, 6-1 on Court 1 to set the tone, overcoming early frustrations and accelerating to the finish for her first collegiate postseason win.
“I think we did a really good job preparing this week,” Scott said. “I had a quick chat with the coaches beforehand, and I think that really just put me in a good mindset going into the match.”
The Lady Vols then went up 3-0 as Mattioli got the straight-set victory over Rasskouskaia, 6-3, 6-3. The sophomore fell behind in the second set but rattled off five straight games to put the Lady Vols in a clinching position.
“She played against another good opponent,” Ojeda said. “We were watching film, and we knew that was a match we could win, but we also knew that that opponent was going to be tough, and that’s exactly what happened. So (Mattioli) had to play her quality of tennis over and over. I heard her upbeat and positive throughout the match, and she was excellent.”
The Monarchs drew closer with straight-set wins on courts 3 and 6. Thornton dropped the Court 6 matchup, 6-2, 6-4, against Markina and Aulia fell to Romanova, 6-4, 6-3, on Court 3.
Suarez provided the clinch for the Lady Vols, her first win since March 25th vs Bellarmine. The senior fell behind 4-1 on Court 4 against Manzhos, but rallied back with four straight games, then successfully avoided a tiebreaker, winning the first set 7-5. Then, Suarez slammed the door with plenty of impressive winners on both sides, taking the second set 6-1 and propelling the Lady Vols to the Round of 32.
“She’s got to take that mindset,” Ojeda said. “She has to stop beating herself and start helping herself. It’s truly that simple for her. I’m not saying that it’s easy to do, but it’s that simple.”
Britez Risso was up 4-1 in her deciding frame after dropping the first set 6-4 and winning the second 6-2.
The Lady Vols were pushed by a strong conference champion in the Monarchs, but emerged with a win and plenty of lessons before they take on either 15-seed Duke or VCU in the second round.
“I think it puts us in a really good headspace,” Scott said. “They were a great team. They put up a good fight, and for us to be able to get it done, I think it gives us some confidence, and I feel like that’s really important in the postseason because anyone can win anything.”
The Lady Vols’ second-round matchup is slated for Saturday, May 2, at 4 p.m. ET.
