For the ninth time in as many full seasons, head coach Alison Ojeda has led Tennessee women’s tennis back to the NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Vols will match up with the Old Dominion Monarchs in the first round on Friday, May 1, at 1 p.m. ET in Durham, North Carolina. The winner will face either the 15-seeded and regional host Duke or VCU in the second round on Saturday.
“I feel thrilled,” Ojeda said. “Old Dominion is a very talented team, so it will be great to go up against them and work to win that match. Then, to go up against Duke, who we know is another very talented team. I love it.”
It’s the Lady Vols’ 33rd NCAA Tournament appearance all-time, including a streak of nine years excluding the canceled 2020 season. But for the first time since the 2022 season, the Lady Vols will not be staying home in Knoxville for the first two rounds. On the fringes of the top-16 rankings all season, Tennessee fell to No. 17 in the most recent rankings after losing in the SEC tournament to LSU and will instead travel to Durham for the opening weekend.
The Monarchs, who finished 13-5 this season, reached the tournament after winning the Sun Belt conference championship for the fourth consecutive year and earning an automatic bid. Friday’s match will be the sixth meeting all-time between the Lady Vols and the Monarchs. Tennessee has the series lead, 5-1, but Old Dominion got the better of the Lady Vols in the last matchup, a 4-3 win in Knoxville in 2019.
“We’ll learn as much as we can about Old Dominion in the next couple days and get the team ready,” Ojeda said. “There’s no shortcuts to success this time of year. At this point, it just comes down to leaving it all out on the line, playing for one another and doing the best job that you can at every single point, and we’re ready to do that.”
After finishing with a 13-9 record and an 8-7 mark in SEC play, the Lady Vols will need effort from every court to make it back to the final site for the third straight year.
“This team, at every single spot, needs to show up and be as good as they can be,” Ojeda said. “We can’t afford to have someone no-show. If we can do that, then we can make a good run.”
