“I think there was a lot we learned about ourselves today,” head coach Alison Ojeda said. “We choose to play strong out-of-conference teams like NC State so that we can see areas where we need to improve ourselves to get ready for the SEC season.”
There were bright spots throughout the day for the Lady Volunteers (4-2), Tennessee opened the match with a 6-3 doubles victory on Court 1 from Rebeka Mertena and Esther Adeshina as the duo toppled Diana Shnaider/Alana Smith.
“We are working on a specific doubles skill set, and want those points to be short, that is no secret,” Ojeda added. “Rebeka and Esther did a fantastic job of executing the game plan today, and it was nice seeing them be rewarded with a win.”
Daria Kuczer was the lone singles winner, and did so against a top-25 foe in No. 25 Abigail Rencheli. Kuczer fought through a grinder of a first set, but broke to go up 6-5 and proceeded to close it out with her serve the next game. As the match flipped to the second stanza, the fifth-year senior picked her spots and did so with class, cruising to a 6-2 second-set victory to take the match.
For Kuczer, she earned her fifth ranked singles victory of the season. Entering the year, she had played just three matches against ranked opponents as a Lady Vol. Further, she picks up her second top-25 win of the year, and her career, having bested then-No. 14 Alexandra Yepifanova at the ITA National Fall Championship in November.
Tennessee also got a strong performance from Elza Tomase, who fought to the very end with the No. 94 player in the world, Shnaider, on Court 1. Shnaider, who had her eligibility approved just a day ago after advancing through three rounds of qualifying play, while advancing to the Round of 64 in the Australian Open three weeks ago, ran into an equal level of play from Tomase in the first set. The sophomore parlayed strong serving into point wins and culminated the frame with an ace down the T. The NC State No. 1 player eventually found her rhythm, claiming the match 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, in three sets.
“It is great for our game that players like Diana are playing college tennis,” Ojeda continued. “This is great for our sport, and it’s great for us as Elza got to play a current top-100 player in the world and…
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