University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Tennessee Fall Invite
Lady Vols Sweep Titles in Fall Invite
November 02, 2014 | Women's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- As the final day of the Tennessee Fall Invitational began, senior Joanna Henderson looked to hold their titles from last year's invite in both singles and doubles.
With doubles first, Henderson played with her usual partner Caitlyn Williams to defend her title. The duo began strong by jumping out to a 3-0 lead over Kentucky's Edmée Morin-Kougoucheff and Kirsten Lewis. Kentucky would not go down without a fight, though. They cut Tennessee's lead to 6-5, but the Lady Vols were too much for the Wildcats as Henderson won the match with an overhand shot that blew past Kougoucheff and Lewis.
"It was really exciting," Henderson said about defending her title. "We came today knowing that if we won our match, we would win the title again. It got closer towards the end, but I was really pleased."
After winning in doubles, Henderson looked to add to her success. She faced East Tennessee State's Lyn Yee Choo for the chance to take both titles again. Henderson played hard against Choo, but in the end, Choo's ability to return and place the ball was just enough to edge Henderson.
Though Henderson would have liked to have come out with both the titles again this year, she still found many positives from her performances over the weekend.
"I think the tournament went well overall," Henderson said. "For me individually, I feel like I got better everyday, and I think that is probably the feeling amongst the whole team. It was a good opportunity for doubles and singles everyday. I feel like the team got better, so that is a positive."
Although Henderson did not win the singles title for Tennessee, someone else did - sophomore Victoria Olivarez. She finished the tournament 3-0 in singles. After starting the tournament as the No. 3 seed for the Lady Vols, Olivarez was bumped up to the No. 2 seed, which seemed to have no effect on her success. She finished her final match of the tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 victory and the rights to this year's Tennessee Fall Invite singles title.
In other singles matches, the Lady Vols came out striking quick. The first to finish was sophomore Laurence Guevremont who won the first set 6-1 and kept the momentum rolling for a 6-3 win in the second set to take the match. Junior Tiffany Tavares fought off an ankle injury to end the tournament on a bright note with a 6-1, 6-4 win over ETSU's Jayde Viccars.
Other matches on the day included tough losses for sophomore Brittany Lindl in singles as well as Olivarez and Guevremont falling short in doubles. Lindl began with an early lead, but she was not able to stop ETSU's Ionna Markesini from coming back. Olivarez and Guevremont fell behind early and could not recover in a 8-4 loss to Kentucky's Kate Lanier and Taylor Lederman.
The Lady Vols will be back in action next weekend as several players will head to Lakewood Ranch, Fla. for the Dick Vitale Clay Court Classic.
Tennessee Fall Invitational
Sunday Results
Tennessee vs. ETSU Singles
1. Choo (ETSU) def. Henderson (UT), 6-4, 6-3
2. Olivarez (UT) def. Nychytailova (ETSU), 6-3, 6-4
3. Guevremont (UT) def. Gerbasi (ETSU), 6-1, 6-3
4. Markesini (ETSU) def. Lindl (UT), 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (3)
5. Tavares (UT) def. Viccars (ETSU), 6-1, 6-4
Tennessee vs. Kentucky Doubles
1. Henderson/Williams (UT) def. Morin-Kougoucheff/Lewis (UK), 8-6
2. Lanier/Lederman (UK) def. Olivarez/Guevremont (UT), 8-4
