Women’s Tennis Central: #22 Tennessee at Furman, #10 NC State

After making its home opener, and earning a pair of victories Wednesday, the No. 22 Tennessee women’s tennis team is back on the road as it spends the weekend in the Carolinas, taking on Furman on Friday at 3 p.m. at Mickel Tennis Center, and No. 10 NC State on Sunday at 1 p.m. at J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.

The Lady Vols (3-1) powered past Western Carolina in its home opener just a day ago, downing the Catamounts, 5-2, in the first match before posting a 4-0 victory in the afternoon session. Rebeka Mertena continued her dominant stretch of play, following up a pair of ranked singles victories at ITA Kickoff Weekend with a aggregate game score of 36-3 between singles and doubles Wednesday afternoon.

Daria Kuczer and Lauren Anzalotta were perfect in singles Wednesday, each going 2-0, while Ashtin Hara and Leyla Britez Risso each tallied their first collegiate dual victory in doubles.

Tennessee’s will make its first trip to Greenville to face Furman on the road in 36 years as the Lady Vols last played at Furman on Oct. 29, 1986. On the flip side, UT and NC State have been frequent foes of late, facing each other four times since the beginning of the 2021 season. Tennessee hosted the Wolfpack last February and played in the Raleigh Regional in the First and Second Round of the 2022 NCAA Team Championship.

Live stats for Friday’s match at Furman can be found HERE. Further, Sunday’s contest at NC State will be streamed and can be viewed HERE, while live stats can be accessed HERE.

HEAD COACH ALISON OJEDA

“I’m looking forward to this weekend, we have two opportunities to play NCAA Championship-caliber teams. Furman typically wins their conference (SoCon) and is a team that we play in the first round of the tournament. NC State is a team who will be playing in those last rounds of the tournament. Both are very good and will help us to continue to really get better. That is our main focus right now.”

SCOUTING THE PALADINS

Furman is 0-4 to start the season, having lost both matches at ITA Kickoff Weekend in Raleigh and falling on the road at No. 4 Duke and at home to Iowa.

Furman is a very strong team, as noted by coach Ojeda, that consistently sits atop  the Southern Conference. The Paladins have not lost a SoCon match in seven years, dating back to the 2015 season.

FU is led by first-year head coach Michelle Dasso, a previous assistant at Duke, after spending the previous seven seasons under the direction of Adam Herendeen.

SCOUTING…