KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Due to their success last season, No. 17 Tennessee women’s tennis is set to host ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Lady Vols will welcome No. 18 Southern California, No. 21 Miami and No. 25 Vanderbilt to Knoxville. The four squads will be competing for one spot in the 2024 ITA Indoor Championship in Seattle.
Per the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, Tennessee will enter the weekend as the No. 1 seed, Miami as the No. 2 seed, USC as the No. 3 seed and Vanderbilt as the No. 4 seed. Miami will take on USC on Friday at 1 p.m., while Tennessee will face Vanderbilt on Friday at 4 p.m. The winners of the first round of matches will play in the championship on Saturday at 3 p.m. The losers of the first round will meet in the consolation match on Saturday at 6 p.m.
The Lady Volunteers (4-0) look to continue their success after notching four wins to start the season. This past weekend, senior Sofia Cabezas cruised past No. 42 Casie Wooten from Wake Forest, 6-3, 6-3, for her first ranked win of the season. Senior Esther Adeshina has also been hard to slow down, as she logged her 75th career doubles win against Wake Forest with partner Alana Wolfberg. The pair took down Wooten and Krystal Blanch in a 6-3 effort.
Lady Vols in the Rankings:
The Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced on Wednesday morning that Tennessee is No. 17 in the second poll of 2024. Additionally, the Southeastern Conference preseason poll selected the team to finish in a tie for sixth place, alongside South Carolina. The following members of the team were ranked in the final fall ITA individual poll posted on Nov. 15, 2023:
Alana Wolfberg No. 91
Sofia Cabezas No. 92
Eleonora Molinaro No. 100
Elza Tomase No. 115
Esther Adeshina and Sofia Cabezas No. 19
Catherine Aulia and Alana Wolfberg No. 42
Scouting the Commodores:
Tennessee leads the all-time series against a fellow SEC foe, 36-29. The last time the two squads met was on March 10, 2023, when the Lady Vols earned a 4-3 victory in Nashville, Tenn. Vanderbilt will travel four players ranked in singles and two pairs of ranked doubles players.
Vanderbilt Rankings:
Singles
No. 14 Celia-Belle Mohr
No. 24 Bridget Stammel
No. 75 Valeria Ray
No. 95 Holly Staff
Doubles
No. 17 Anessa Lee and Celia-Belle Mohr
No. 59 Holly Staff and Valeria Ray.
Scouting the Hurricanes:
The Lady Vols are an even 3-3 vs. Miami, with their last result coming as a 1-4 loss in Charlottesville, Va., on…
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