Lady Vols Earn Both Spots in Singles Final

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Rebeka Mertena and Elza Tomase both won their semifinals matchup in singles at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional Sunday afternoon at Adams Tennis Complex. The two will face off against each other in tomorrow's finals beginning at 9 a.m.

"There is a level of tennis that Tennessee women's tennis has not seen in a while," head coach Alison Ojeda said following the conclusion of play. "I love that our two freshmen really did an outstanding job, from start to finish of the tournament, showing improvement in their mental toughness and in their tennis.

Outstanding tennis it was between Elza Tomase and Olivia Symons. The two fought hard with Tomase getting the upperhand and eventually taking the match, 6-2, 6-2.

"You hate that one of them has to lose because they both have worked so hard," Ojeda continued. "At the same time, that is why we play tournaments and that's the fall."

Rebeka Mertena took the other spot in the finals after a three-set affair with Csilla Fodor of Purdue. The experienced Lady Vol struggled to sustain momentum in the first set, dropping the frame 1-6. As soon as the first serve of the second set went up it was a complete shift. No. 55-ranked Mertena kicked her play into high gear, collecting points and battling through long rallies between her and Fodor. Her success came from her ability keep the Boilermaker junior off balance, mixing between a consistent cross-court ball then pushing down the line. Her play netted victories in the last two sets, 6-2, 6-4.

"She did an outstanding job competing," Ojeda said about Mertena. "People see the score from yesterday, but no one knows she was down three match points. To battle through that yesterday, and she was down a set today, credit to her. She couldn't wait to get back to this day and this stage. She is here solely because of her, and that is fantastic."

Esther Adeshina was the first victory of the day for the Big Orange as she faced Anna Smith of Xavier. The sophomore created chances for herself at the net and executed when she got an opportunity, taking a 6-3, 6-3 win.

Callie Creath secured the final singles victory of the day for UT. The Austin, Texas native dropped her first set in a tiebreak, but came back and jumped out to a 3-2 advantage in the second before her Indiana opponent retired due to injury.

In doubles play, Tennessee's pairs both were defeated in the quarterfinals. Kentucky took opened up a 7-1 lead before the Lady Vols were able to scratch back three games. The Wildcats won the match 8-4. In the second quarterfinal, UT and Louisville went back-and-forth braking each other's serve before the Cardinals pulled away, taking the match, 8-4.

Adeshina and Daria Kuczer earned their second consolation win of the weekend, overtaking Middle Tennessee's Muskan Gupta and Lilly-Sophie Schmidt, 8-4.

The Lady Vols have played a lot of tennis, 51 matches in five days, and Tennessee has battled through each match. The grind of a long tournament in such a condensed time increases the difficulty of each opponent, but the successes UT has found is a credit to the focus and toughness the team has been working on since mid-August.

"The way our regional sets up, the draw here is quite large, so there has been a lot of tennis in the last few days," Ojeda noted. "The reality is, on day five of competing and being around the tennis facility all day long, you are exhausted. The last eight weeks have been about developing the skills that have nothing to do with hitting a tennis ball. From, how do we handle our emotions, how do we handle our attitude, how do we handle our mental toughness? That is what we have been working on every day. What I love most is how we did an outstanding job showing improvement in every one of those areas and also in the tennis itself."

Mertena is back in the finals for the second-straight ITA Ohio Valley Regionals, while the tournament was called off last season due to the COVID-19 Global Health Crisis, the senior played Kaitlin Staines in 2019 and lost the match 6-1, 6-1. First serve is slated for 9:30 AM and will occur at the indoor courts at the Adams Tennis Complex due to rain in the forecast.

Day Four Results
Singles
Main Draw Semifinals
No. 55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) def. Csilla Fodor(PU) 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
Elza Tomase(UT) def. Olivia Symons(UT) 6-2, 6-2

Consolation Draw
Esther Adeshina(UT) def. Anna Smith(XU) 6-3, 6-3
Callie Creath(UT) def. Laura Masic(IU) 6-7(5), 3-2 (ret.)
Lara Schneider(IU) def. Daria Kuczer(UT) 7-5, 6-3

Doubles
Main Draw Quarterfinals
#16 Di Palma/Verma(UL) def. Olivia Symons/Tenika McGiffin(UT) 8-4
Eades/Girbau(UK) def. Rebeka Mertena/Elza Tomase(UT) 8-4

Consolation Draw
No. 5 Esther Adeshina/Daria Kuczer(UT) def. Schmidt/Gupta(MTSU) 8-4

University of Tennessee | Official Athletics Site

Players Mentioned

Esther Adeshina

Callie Creath

Daria Kuczer

Tenika McGiffin

Rebeka Mertena

Olivia Symons

Elza Tomase

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