The Lady Vols dropped just their second doubles point for the season against Florida State on Sunday in Tallahassee.
Luckily for Tennessee head coach Alison Ojeda, this Lady Vols’ team was headlined by a handful of upperclassmen who led them to a big comeback 4-3 victory.
Led by the likes of four seniors, Sofia Cabezas, Esther Adeshina, Lauren Anzalotta and Alana Wolfberg, the No. 20 Lady Vols (8-2) jumped on the singles points advantage, defeating Florida State (4-3), advancing to 2-0 to start the road trip.
The Lady Vols found themselves in unfamiliar territory, down 1-0 early after a hard-fought doubles battle on Court 1.
The duo of Cabezas and Elza Tomase, ranked 29th according to ITA rankings, was handed just their second doubles loss of the season, losing 7-6.
Neither ranked doubles duo on the Lady Vols found success on Sunday. No. 53 Adeshina and Wolfberg were defeated by the No. 45 duo of Ellie Schoppe and Maelie Monfils, 7-5.
With the doubles point lost, senior Adeshina gave the Lady Vols a quick shift of momentum, winning her singles match by scores of 6-4 and 6-1, respectively.
No. 94 Wolfberg kept the ball rolling, winning the next singles match in just two sets as well. Wolfberg would win 7-5 and 6-2 against Anna Arkadianou, a senior at Florida State.
The Lady Vols dropped the next two singles matches to complete, moving the total score to 3-2 in favor of the Seminoles.
Enter senior Cabezas, who game in and game out remains one of the most important players on the court.
Cabezas found herself up big by a score of 5-2 in the last set of her singles match against No. 37 Schoppe, but the lead quickly turned into a 5-5 tie. Cabezas battled back, winning the next two games, ultimately clinching the game-tying point.
The game knotted up at three a piece, and all eyes turned to Court 5 for the game-clinching match between No. 125 Anzalotta and Laura Putz.
Anzalotta, who found herself down a set early, quickly rebounded during set two where she won by a score of 6-0. Anzalotta needed just one more set victory to give the Lady Vols the win, and the senior delivered, winning the game by a score of 7-5.
The victory would also serve as Anzalotta’s first career game clincher.
The Lady Vols leave the state of Florida undefeated and will continue their road trip on March 1 against Arkansas (5-3).
