Tomase Crowned Singles Champion at ITA Ohio Valley Regionals

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Elza Tomase finished the five-day event strong, taking down teammate Rebeka Mertena in the singles final at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional at the Adams Tennis Complex Monday morning.

By making it to the finals of the region, both Lady Vols qualified for the ITA National Fall Championships as individuals. The tournament will be held in San Diego, California, November 4-7.

"Elza has known Rebeka for years and knows how to play her," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "She went out with a plan and executed it very well. There were times where I wanted to go down and coach, but I just let them play. It was tough because I know how badly they both want to win, not because they are playing against each other, but because they are just great competitors."

"This week was really good for me," Tomase said following the championship. "I've worked really hard the past few weeks leading up to it and was able to keep focus every single match."

That focus and determination showed throughout the contest as Tomase was able to apply pressure to Mertena constantly. Mertena was not an easy opponent, though, as the two sides broke each other multiple times and battled through a few deuce points.

"Rebeka has improved tremendously over the past few years and I know how badly she wants to win this tournament," Ojeda continued. "I am glad she is going to have another chance to next year. Big picture, she qualified for nationals and gives herself a chance to get some really good wins there."

In a long weekend of action, the Lady Vols were highly successful, winning 38 matches across singles and doubles play over the course of the tournament.

"There was a lot of tennis," Ojeda finished saying. "Our outlook as a team was that we knew we would be playing a lot of tennis coming in. If you want to win, in order to do that, you are going to have to endure two tough matches in singles, two tough matches in doubles. That is part of it. Let's embrace it for what it is and be thrilled that we are competing. That's a conversation two months ago we could have had, but not been able to implement the way we did."

The Lady Vols have a short turnaround as they host the Tennessee Fall Invitational starting Thursday of this week. The action will be in the team setting of the spring where matches earn points to a total score, as opposed to tournament play.

A full list of this weekend's results can be found below.

Day One Results
Singles
No. 55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) def. Sina Albersmeier(UTM) 6-1, 6-0
Daria Kuczer(UT) def. Ananya Kothakota(NKU) 6-3, 6-2
Olivia Symons(UT) def. Catherine Senysiewicz-Slowek(UMO) 6-1, 6-4
Esther Adeshina(UT) def. Tyra Richardson(UL) 6-2, 6-1
Elza Tomase(UT) def. Makensie Long(UMO) 6-0, 6-0
Eleonora Molinaro(UT) def. Gabrielle Ochalik(IUPUI) 6-0, 6-1
Brindtha Ramasamy(UMO) def. Callie Creath(UT) 6-2, 6-4

Day Two Results
Doubles
Rebeka Mertena/Elza Tomase(UT) def. Morris/Torrealba (APSU) 8-5
Tenika McGiffin/Olivia Symons(UT) vs. Grosmann/Tumthong (UM) 8-5
Callie Creath/Kylie Duckworth(UT) vs. Henry/Roberts (BU) 8-7(5)
Monique Woog/Meredith Jones (UM) def. No. 5 Esther Adeshina/Daria Kuczer(UT) 8-6

Singles
No. 55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) def. Monique Woog(UM) 6-1, 6-2
Esther Adeshina(UT) def. Alexandra Staiculescu(IU) 6-0, 7-5
Daria Kuczer(UT) def. Mariya Polishchuk(UTC) 6-1, 6-3
Olivia Symons(UT) def. Mizuki Sakurai(UTM) 6-2, 6-0
Callie Creath(UT) def. Krystal Grubb(IUPUI) 6-3, 6-0
Elza Tomase(UT) def. Emma Peeler(BSU) 6-1, 6-0
Emilia Alfaro(ETSU) def. Eleonora Molinaro(UT) 6-2, 4-6, 7-5
No. 55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) def. Lara Schneider(IU) 6-2. 6-1
Elza Tomase(UT) def. Laura Masic(IU) 6-3, 6-2
Olivia Symons(UT) def. Laylo Bakhodirova(ETSU) 6-4, 6-4
Daria Kuczer(UT) def. Seira Shimizu(PU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
Csilla Fodor(PU) def. Esther Adeshina(UT) 6-1, 7-6(3)

Day Three Results
Singles
Main Draw R16
Rebeka Mertena(UT) def. Marcella Cruz(VU) 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2
Olivia Symons(UT) def. Laylo Bakhodirova(ETSU) 6-4, 6-4
Elza Tomase(UT) def. Fiona Arrese(UK) 6-0, 6-1
Camila Romero(UM) def. Daria Kuczer(UT) 7-5, 6-4

Consolation R84
Esther Adeshina(UT) def. Blessing Nwaozuzu(XU) 6-2, 6-3
Callie Creath(UT) def. Sara Zalukar(MUO) 6-3, 6-2
Elizabeth Pendergast(UC) def. Eleonora Molinaro(UT) 6-4, 3-0 ret.

Main Draw Quarterfinals
Rebeka Mertena(UT) def. Brindtha Ramasamy(MUO) 6-3, 6-1
Olivia Symons(UT) def. Carmen Gallardo Guevara(PU) 6-3, 7-5
Elza Tomase(UT) def. Dasha Kourkina(VU) 7-5, 6-0

Doubles
Main Draw R32
Rebeka Mertena/Elza Tomase(UT) def. van Hee/Bosman(UTC) 8-3
Tenika McGiffin/Olivia Symons(UT) def. Peeler/Kaplan(BSU) 8-3
Arrese/Gonzalez(UK) def. Callie Creath/Kylie Duckworth(UT) 8-6

Consolation R32
Esther Adeshina/Daria Kuczer(UT) def. Alfaro/Gorbunova(ETSU) 8-4

Main Draw R16
Rebeka Mertena/Elza Tomase(UT) def. Cruz/Kourkina(VU) 8-1
Tenika McGiffin/Olivia Symons(UT) def. Young/Billman(UTC) 8-2

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

Day Five Results
Singles
Singles Championship
Elza Tomase(UT) def. Rebeka Mertena(UT) 6-1, 6-3

University of Tennessee Athletics

Tomase Crowned Singles Champion at ITA Ohio Valley Regionals

Players Mentioned

Esther Adeshina

Callie Creath

Kylie Duckworth

Daria Kuczer

Tenika McGiffin

Rebeka Mertena

Eleonora Molinaro

Olivia Symons

Elza Tomase

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