Lady Vols Round Out Non-Conference Play, Split Doubleheader

Saturday, March 2

Knoxville, Tenn.

12:00 PM

University of Tennessee

Georgia

Photo by: Maury Neipris/Tennessee Athletics

Lady Vols Round Out Non-Conference Play, Split Doubleheader

March 02, 2019 | Women's Tennis

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – No. 30 Tennessee dropped a hard fought match to No. 2 Georgia before taking down in-state foe Chattanooga to round out Saturday's doubleheader at Barksdale Tennis Stadium.

The Lady Vols fell to the Bulldogs 4-0 before rebounding with a 7-0 victory over Chattanooga.

"In the match against Georgia, our goals were to come out and compete," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "We've been talking about that since we lost to Old Dominion, and I'm 100 percent positive that our team is better today because of that loss.

"There's some things that we can work on that we'll definitely focus on here in the next week. Killer instinct, mental toughness and execution are the three things that our team needs to focus on if we want to continue to develop."

Tennessee (10-3, 0-1 SEC) battled closely with Georgia (8-0, 1-0) in doubles on all three courts, but eventually dropped the doubles point to the Bulldogs.

On Court 3, Meg Kowalski and Marta Gonzales withstood a rally by Rebeka Mertena and Johanna Silva, 6-4. At the No. 2 doubles spot, Elena Christofi and Vivian Wolff pulled away late to defeat Tenika McGiffin and Maia Haumuller, 6-4.

In singles, Tennessee battled on every court before Georgia clinched with wins on Courts 1, 3 and 5. Kaitlin Staines and Mertena both won their first sets against their respective opponents, but the Bulldogs clinched the match before either player could finish.

Against Chattanooga (7-3), Tennessee got back to its winning ways in doubles. McGiffin and Haumuller tallied their sixth win in seven matches, quickly taking down Annie Tarwater and Polina Goloputova, 6-0. Mertena and Silva also came away with a quick win, 6-1 over Bogdana Zaporozhets and Caroline Hall.

In singles against the Mocs, the Lady Vols swept all six courts for the fifth time this season.

Mertena registered a quick 6-0, 6-0 win at the No. 4 spot, just before Staines won on Court 2, 6-1, 6-0. Mertena has now won five singles matches in a row, while Staines' win was her third straight.

Sadie Hammond (No. 1), Ariadna Riley (No. 3) and McGiffin (No. 5) also each recorded two-set singles wins for Tennessee.

Haumuller won by retirement on Court 6, 6-1, 2-1. The freshman from Corral De Bustos, Argentina has now won 12 of 14 singles matches this spring.

UP NEXT: The Lady Vols are home once again for a pair of matches next weekend. Tennessee hosts Texas A&M on Friday at 12 p.m. and then hosts LSU on Sunday at 12 p.m.

RESULTS

No. 2 Georgia 4, No. 30 Tennessee 0

Singles
1. #1 Katarina Jokic (UGA) def. Sadie Hammond (UT), 6-3, 6-4
2. Kaitlin Staines (UT) vs. #14 Marta Gonzalez (UGA), 6-3, 5-6, unfinished
3. #83 Lourdes Carle (UGA) def. #121 Johanna Silva (UT), 6-2, 6-1
4. Rebeka Mertena (UT) vs. #28 Vivian Wolff (UGA), 6-1, 3-6, 0-5, unfinished
5. #110 Elena Christofi (UGA) def. Tenika McGiffin (UT), 6-3, 6-0
6. Maia Haumuller (UT) vs. #54 Meg Kowalski (UGA), 6-7 (4), 3-3, unfinished

Doubles
1. #9 Hammond/Staines (UT) vs. #54 Jokic/Carle (UGA), 5-6, unfinished
2. Christofi/Wolff (UGA) def. McGiffin/Haumuller (UT), 6-4
3. Kowalski/Gonzales (UGA) def. Mertena/Silva (UT), 6-4

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

No. 30 Tennessee 7, Chattanooga 0

Singles
1. Sadie Hammond (UT) Polina Goloputova (UTC), 6-3, 6-4
2. Kaitlin Staines (UT) def. Bogdana Zaporozhets (UTC), 6-0, 6-1
3. Ariadna Riley (UT) def. Delaney Edwards (UTC), 6-0, 6-3
4. Rebeka Mertena (UT) def. Caroline Hall (UTC), 6-0, 6-0
5. Tenika McGiffin (UT) def. Emma Van Hee (UTC), 6-4, 6-2
6. Maia Haumuller (UT) def. Anna Didkovskaya (UTC), 6-1, 2-1, won by retirement

Doubles
1. #9 Hammond/Staines (UT) vs. Edwards/Van Hee, 5-2, unfinished
2. McGiffin/Haumuller (UT) def. Tarwater/Goloputova, 6-0
3. Mertena/Silva (UT) def. Zaporozhets/Hall (UTC), 6-1

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