KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 17 Tennessee Women’s tennis team rounded up its regular season with a shutout victory over in-state rival, No. 30 Vanderbilt, 4-0. The triumph extended the Lady Volunteers’ winning streak to six matches in a row and marked the third time in head coach Alison Ojeda‘s tenure her squad has produced nine or more regular season SEC wins.
“I think the big takeaway for us right now is we played these guys two months ago and where our team is at today versus where our team was at two months ago is obviously significantly in a better place,” Ojeda said. “We came out on top close against them a couple of months ago and this time, to our team’s credit, we just came out and took care of business. It’s good, it shows a lot of growth and improvement.”
Tennessee (17-6, 9-4 SEC) claimed the opening point after a hard-fought doubles fixture against Vanderbilt (11-9, 6-7 SEC). The No. 79-ranked duo of Esther Adeshina and Alana Wolfberg etched a 6-2 victory against No. 83 Holly Staff and Anessa Lee. On court three, Lauren Anzalotta and Catherine Aulia fell to Bridget Stammel and Amy Stevens, 5-7. The doubles point came down to a tight match on court one. The No. 15-ranked pair of Sofia Cabezas and Elza Tomase posted a 7-5 triumph against No. 33 Celia-Belle Mohr and Anessa Lee to give Tennessee a 1-0 lead.
“Doubles was tough,” Adeshina said. ” Vanderbilt made it tough for us but, we pushed through that. Going on to singles, we knew we had a chance at every spot. We just all had to play together and that is what we did.”
The Lady Vols excelled in singles and hauled in three quick wins to clinch the match. Wolfberg posted the first singles victory against Verlia Ray in a 6-0, 6-1 decision. Tomase extended the lead by notching a 6-4, 6-2 result against No. 79 Bridget Stammel. Adeshina provided the clincher, tallying a 6-3, 6-1 decision over Holly Staff.
“I could not ask for anything better,” Wolfberg remaked after the win on her senior day. “Pretty much speechless, it was amazing.” It has been a great season, this team has always believed in me. No matter how I felt every single day, they have my back and I have theirs. I love this team so much.”
Along with Wolfberg, the Lady Vols recognized Cabezas, Adeshina, Molinaro and Anzalotta during senior day festivities.
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