University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Marshall
LADY VOLS DOWN MARSHALL TO ADVANCE TO REGIONAL FINAL
May 10, 2002 | Women's Tennis
May 10, 2002
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
The 14th-ratedUniversity of Tennessee Lady Volunteer tennis team captured a 4-0 triumph in the opening round of the 2002 NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament on Friday in the Goodfriend Tennis Center. The Big Orange will meet Alabama, who took a 4-0 victory from Ohio State before UT's match, on Saturday at 4 p.m.
"It was a tough match," said co-head coach Mike Patrick. "Marshall played really well. I think it was the perfect type of match to prepare us for Saturday's contest. In singles today, everyone fought and that was great to see."
Freshman Breanna Kray and junior Crystal Cleveland had already sealed the No. 3 doubles match with an 8-2 win over Alice Sukner and Danielle Hock when rain and thunder storms forced the rest of the match indoors. Senior Alison Ojeda and Kim Gates were down 6-3 and junior Vilmarie Castellvi and senior Agnes Wiski trailed 6-4 when the move was made. Gates and Ojeda started to rally and pulled within one but were unable to score again, dropping the match on court two at 8-5. The doubles point would be decided by the tilt on court one. Castellvi and Wiski knotted the match at seven and Wiski hit five consecutive first serves to take the lead over Anna Mitina and Lille Nzudie. The Orange duo then broke Nzudie's serve to catapult UT into the lead.
In singles, Wiski pulled away from Nzudie on court four to secure a 2-0 lead four the Lady Vols and capture her 102nd career singles triumph with a 6-2, 6-4 decision. Ojeda, Gates and Castellvi were all involved in close first set contests as Ojeda and Gates each escaped with narrow triumphs and Castellvi fell behind heading into the second set. Ojeda took control in the second stanza and cruised to a 6-0 triumph to put UT within one point of advancing. Gates then turned in a 6-1 second-set victory to complete the Orange and White sweep. Ojeda's feat marked her 99th career win and her first since March 31st.
"It was the first time in a long time I have felt pretty good, physically, out there," Ojeda said. "More importantly, I was so happy to see us fighting on all four courts. Kim, Vilmarie and I all had close first sets and we all stayed with it."
When Gates clinched the match play was suspended on the other courts. At that time, Castellvi had a 2-0 lead in her second set against Jessica Johnson and Cleveland was up 1-0 in the first set of the No. 5 duel.
Tennessee, now 18-9, defeated Alabama, now 13-10, in the pair's regular season match-up on March 10 in Knoxville, blanking the Crimson Tide, 7-0.
| AGATE RESULTS | ||
| SINGLES | ||
| 1. | Vilmarie Castellvi (UT) vs. Jessica Johnson (MU) | 5-7, 2-0, suspended |
| 2. | Alison Ojeda (UT) vs. Anna Mitina (MU) | 7-5, 6-0 |
| 3. | Kim Gates (UT) def. Alice Sukner (MU) | 7-6, 6-1* |
| 4. | Agnes Wiski (UT) def. Lille Nzudie (MU) | 6-2, 6-4 |
| 5. | Crystal Cleveland (UT) vs. Joelle Good (MU) | 1-0, suspended |
| 6. | Ashley Robards (UT) def. Ashley Kroh (MU) | DNP |
| DOUBLES | ||
| 1. | Castellvi/Wiski (UT) def. Mitina/Nzudie (MU) | 9-7* |
| 2. | Johnson/Kroh (MU) def. Gates/Ojeda (UT) | 8-5 |
| 3. | Cleveland/Kray (UT) def. Sukner/Danielle Hock (MU) | 8-2 |
