KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 17 Tennessee Women’s tennis team downed No. 65 Kentucky in a 4-0 shutout Friday evening, extending its winning streak to five matches. After taking the doubles point, the Lady Volunteers stacked on three singles victories to finish the triumph.
“Honestly, we’ve really still been focusing on the things we’ve been focusing on all season,” head coach Alison Ojeda said. “We’re a good team. We’ve known we’re a good team. We’ve had match points against [Texas] A&M, we had opportunities to win the match against South Carolina. I think it’s just kind of staying with it and not stressing out too much about the fact that some of those matches went our opponent’s way and not ours. They’re good opponents, everyone we’re playing against, but when it’s all said and done just staying on top of who we are as a team is really, really important.”
Tennessee (16-6, 8-4 SEC) posted two back-to-back doubles wins on courts two and three against Kentucky (8-12, 2-9) to acquire the early advantage. The No. 76-ranked pair of Esther Adeshina and Alana Wolfberg notched a 6-0 shutout triumph against Ellie Eades and Zoe Hammond. Lauren Anzalotta and Catherine Aulia clinched the opening point from a 6-1 edge over Julie Zhu and Maialen Morante.
“I think it’s just our connection,” Aulia said of her play with Anzalotta. “We don’t even really have to think, we are just so in tune with each other now that we know what we need to do and if something is not working then we know how to fix it. It is always going to be on our racket. It is never about the opponent, so as long as we do what we need to do, I think we are always going to be okay.”
Doubles play was just the beginning for the Big Orange, as the squad kept the momentum up and tallied three singles wins to seal the match up. Adeshina led the trio with a 6-1, 6-0 victory against Ellie Myers, while Aulia followed with a 6-3, 6-0 result versus Julia Zhu. Elza Tomase rounded up singles play with a 6-3, 6-4 decision over Elizabeth Stevens.
NEXT UP:
The Lady Vols will gear up for their final regular season match on Sunday against No. 30 Vanderbilt at Barksdale Stadium, with first serve slated for 1 p.m.
Match Notables:
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The win marked the 781st victory for the Tennessee women’s tennis program.
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Head coach Alison Ojeda now owns 137 victories during her tenure.
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The Lady Vols now possess a 31-20 all-time record against Kentucky, registering their fifth victory in…
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