Tennessee women’s tennis couldn’t upset Duke in the Durham Regional Final, falling 4-1.
The Lady Vols (14-10, 8-7 SEC) saw their season end on Saturday at the hands of the 15-seed Blue Devils (20-7, 10-2 ACC), who claimed the doubles point and wins on courts 2, 3 and 5 to advance to the Super Regionals.
The loss ends the Lady Vols’ streak of three straight Super Regional appearances.
Tennessee started off doubles with an impressive win on Court 1, as Vanesa Suarez and Francesca Mattioli defeated Irina Balus and Shavit Kimchi, 6-1, taking six straight games. Duke quickly tied up the doubles session on Court 3, where Ava Krug and Liv Hovde took down Katrina Scott and Maeve Thornton, 6-2.
Doubles came down to Court 2, where Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso took on Claire An and Eleana Yu. After trading breaks to open the set, both tandems held serve until the Duke pair won a break on Aulia and Britez Risso to go up 5-3, then held on to claim the doubles point for the Blue Devils with a 6-3 win.
Scott was the lone bright spot in singles for the Lady Vols. In a battle against No. 13 Balus on Court 1, Scott powered through the first set to win 6-3, then shut Balus down in the second with a quick 6-1 victory.
Mattioli struggled in a 6-3, 6-2 loss to Yu on Court 5. Down 5-0 in the second, the sophomore fought off multiple match points and took two games, but ran out of gas as the Blue Devils retook the lead.
Britez Risso suffered her just her third loss of the dual season against Hovde on Court 2. The senior sprinted to a 6-1 win in the first set, but Hovde gained the advantage after that. Britez Risso dropped the second set 6-2, and then a hard-fought third set 6-3 to put the Lady Vols on the brink of elimination.
Aulia fell to An on Court 4 to seal the Lady Vols’ fate. The senior went up 3-1 in the first set, but couldn’t finish, dropping five straight games and losing 6-3. Aulia then dropped the second set 6-2, clinching the match for the Blue Devils.
Suarez was down 3-1 in her second set after a gritty win in the first, 7(7)-6(5). Saray Yli-Piipari, returning on Court 6 in her first match in nearly two months, was down 5-1 in her second set after dropping the opening frame 6-3.
After a season defined by coming close, but not close enough, to a litany of elite teams, the Lady Vols will have to replace plenty of production next spring. Aulia, Britez Risso and Suarez are all seniors. Additionally, Scott was only granted one year of eligibility by the NCAA due to her age. The Lady Vols’ spring 2027 recruiting class currently includes five commitments and is ranked No. 4 nationally, Tennessee’s highest-ranked class ever.
