TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 24 Tennessee Women’s tennis team secured a 4-1 victory against No. 23 Alabama on Sunday afternoon at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. Sunday’s match marked head coach Alison Ojeda‘s tenth consecutive win against the Tide.
“So proud of the team,” Ojeda remarked. “We have had a really good season, we have a great team with a fantastic group of girls. The thing is that sometimes you can put in all the work and it does not necessarily mean you are going to win a match. We came out today start to finish, and started the match with a certain level of intensity. The only expectation that we had was on ourselves. It had nothing to do with the result or what our opponent was doing. We really wanted to focus on our strengths and the girls did that from start to finish today. I am proud of them because Alabama fought hard, we knew they would. On every court we competed, Alana [Wolfberg] battled through doubles which was a huge help and we needed Leyla [Britez Risso] to play again at the last minute and she was right there in a match with a good player. Could not be any more excited for the girls but very excited to get home and play in front of our home crowd for the last four SEC matches of the season.”
Tennessee (13-6, 5-4 SEC) went straight to work in doubles and posted victories in spots two and three to nail down the 1-0 edge against Alabama (14-6, 5-5 SEC). The No. 49-ranked pair of Esther Adeshina and Alana Wolfberg downed Petra Sedlackova and Anna Parkhomenko in a 6-1 triumph. Lauren Anzalotta and Catherine Aulia snagged the doubles point from a 6-2 advantage against Ola Pitak and Klara Milicevic.
“I thought we had a great weekend,” Anzalotta added. “As a team, it is very tough to play on the road but just getting two wins was really good, especially for our confidence. I am so glad that Catherine Aulia was able to clinch for us. Being able to stay calm under pressure and being able to pull through for us was amazing. In terms of my 50th career singles win, I am really proud and hope to get many more in my short time left.”
After the Lady Vols claimed a 1-0 lead, the squad tallied three singles wins to clinch the match. No. 17 Sofia Cabezas etched the first singles win over No. 46 Loudmilla Bencheikh in a 6-1, 6-2 effort. Anzalotta added a win against Klara Milicevic in three-set fashion, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. Aulia posted the final singles victory with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 triumph over Anne Marie Hiser.
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