Lady Vols Take Down Indiana, 5-2

Friday, February 15

Knoxville, Tenn.

11:30 AM

University of Tennessee

Indiana

KNOXVILLE, TN - 2019.02.15 - Tennessee vs. Old Hoosiers

Photo by: Maury Neipris/Tennessee Athletics

February 15, 2019 | Women's Tennis

Box Score Photo Gallery

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee women's tennis team started the weekend with 5-2 victory over Indiana Friday afternoon at Goodfriend Tennis Center.

"Overall, I thought the team did a really good job of executing our goals, which was from top to bottom to be as energetic and as competitive as we possibly could be," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "Overall, I think that if our team can come out every single day and compete with the level of energy and intensity and excitement and enthusiasm and all that sort of stuff, I think we can be really good."

For the sixth time in its seven matches this season, Tennessee (5-2) won the doubles point against the Hoosiers (6-3).

Maia Haumuller and Tenika McGiffin, paired together in doubles for the third straight match, registered their third consecutive straight win. Haumuller and McGiffin defeated Caitlin Bernard and Natalie Whalen, 6-1.

Sadie Hammond and Kaitlin Staines, the No. 17 ranked doubles pair in the nation, also made quick work of Indiana's Madison Appel and Jelly Bozovic with a 6-2 victory to clinch the doubles point. The win improves Hammond and Staines' dual match record in doubles this season to 6-0.

In singles, Johanna Silva gave Tennessee a 2-0 lead at the No. 3 singles spot with a quick 6-0, 6-1 victory over Caitlin Bernard. Silva has now won 16 of her past 18 singles matches dating back to the fall and possesses a 5-2 record in dual matches this season.

At the No. 1 singles spot, Hammond defeated Indiana's Madison Appel, 6-1, 6-2.

Haumuller clinched the match for Tennessee at No. 6 over Somer Henry, 6-1, 7-5, fighting back to win the second set after trailing 4-1.

After the Lady Vols clinched the match, McGiffin also registered a singles win, battling to a 6-4, 6-3 win over McKamey at the No. 5 spot.

At the No. 2 singles spot, Staines fell by retirement, 6-7 (3), 1-4. Mertena dropped a closely contested three-set match on Court 4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6).

Up Next: The Lady Vols return to action Sunday at 12 p.m. against South Florida to cap off the weekend.

Following the match against the Bulls, Tennessee is back at Goodfriend Tennis Center for a trio of matches next weekend against Purdue on Saturday and a doubleheader against UT Martin and ETSU on Sunday.

QUOTES

Senior Sadie Hammond

On her wins in singles and doubles against Indiana:
"I'm really happy with how today turned out, especially after last weekend. We focused on playing with more energy in practice to carry us to the win. In doubles, Kaitlin and I were laser-focused and knew exactly what we wanted to do and went out there and did it. In singles, you want to carry the same energy over. I feel like I got off to a good start and just stayed focused on the task at hand and what I wanted to accomplish, and I got the win."

Head coach Alison Ojeda

On Maia Haumuller clinching the match with a come-from-behind win in the second set:
"I'm incredibly excited for her. She is just someone who naturally runs well and puts a lot of balls in the tennis court. The match came down to the doubles point against LSU and I think mentally all of the sudden she realized for the first time what college tennis is all about. So she's been trying to embrace that and figure it out, so for her to be able to come back and compete in the second set the way she did and then clinch it for the team is huge. It's huge for her and huge for our whole program."

On the crowd contributing to the team's energy:
"We had an incredible crowd today, and they were into it. And the good news is, I think our girls gave them something to get into. If we want to keep doing that every day, we have to bring that stuff every day. And you can't just bring it on match day because you can't just flip a switch. That stuff has to be done every day in practice."

RESULTS
Tennessee 5, Indiana 2

Singles
1. Sadie Hammond (UT) def. Madison Appel (IU), 6-1, 6-2
2. Natalie Whalen (IU) def. Kaitlin Staines (UT), 7-6 (3), 4-1, ret.
3. Johanna Silva (UT) def. Caitlin Bernard (IU), 6-0, 6-1
4. Jelly Bozovic (IU) def. Rebeka Mertena (UT), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6)
5. Tenika McGiffin (UT) def. Michelle McKamey (IU), 6-4, 6-3
6. Maia Haumuller (UT) def. Somer Henry (IU), 6-1, 7-5

Doubles
1. Hammond/Staines (UT) def. Appel/Bozovic (IU), 6-2
2. Haumuller/McGiffin (UT) def. Bernard/Whalen (IU), 6-1
3. Silva/Mertena (UT) vs. McKamey/Henry (IU), 5-4, unfinished

Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1); Singles (3, 1, 6, 2, 5, 4)