“This tournament is the toughest individual event of the year,” head coach Alison Ojeda said on the fall finale. “Every single individual in this draw is a very good tennis player and very eager to compete. There is going to be some high-level tennis that is played out there on the courts.”
The Lady Volunteers enter the event with two qualifiers for the singles main draw for the third consecutive season. After Elza Tomase successfully defended her regional title on Rocky Top two weeks ago, she is playing in the event for a second time and will face a Southeastern Conference foe in #26 Lea Ma from Georgia. The runner-up in the regional was Daria Kuczer and she gets a tough draw, facing the top seed in the event and #21 Fiona Crawley of North Carolina.
Confidence is a big part of this event. Every player qualified is among the top from across the country, but Ojeda feels that the two singles players, plus the doubles team, are fully prepared and ready to face any challenge that comes their way.
“Everyone who qualified for this event willed their tank with some confidence at some point this fall,” Ojeda continued. “Once you arrive at this event, I think you would see some players looking around and questioning whether they can win matches this week or not. That’s where preparation comes into play and I feel that we are prepared for the task at hand.”
In doubles, Kuczer will also take the court for the Big Orange, and she is joined by Eleonora Molinaro. The pair has a first-round bout with Chloe Beck and Cameron Morra from Duke who are unranked but playing together for the first time this fall. The pairing is seeded in the draw after also finishing as the runner up in their regional bracket.
All matches from the 2022 ITA National Fall Championship will be streamed live via Cracked Racquets on YouTube, which can be found by clicking here.
Follow along for scores and results all week on Twitter and Instagram @Vol_WTennis or on Facebook.
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