University of Tennessee Athletics
Lady Vols Close Out Debbie Southern Classic in Style
September 19, 2021 | Women's Tennis
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Tenika McGiffin downed fifth-ranked Georgia Drummy from Duke in a huge win while Eleonora Molinaro went 3-0 in singles to wrap up a strong weekend for the Tennessee women's tennis team at the Debbie Southern Fall Classic.
"On the front end of the event, I hoped to see a fierceness in the way we competed for each and every point," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "As the tourney ends, a majority of our team really did a great job of that and their results show."
"I want to point out four players in particular, Rebeka, Tenika, Elza and Ele," Ojeda continued. "They played some complete matches against really strong opponents and I want to recognize their improvement."
McGiffin and Drummy found themselves locked in a battle, going to a tiebreaker once, and playing 22 games of tennis Sunday morning. The savvy veteran found a way to beat the top-5 foe, taking the match 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3.
Molinaro finished the weekend 3-0 in singles play and capped the weekend in style, carding a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Jess Dawson of Furman.
Rebeka Mertena battled through the top flight, winning her first two matches before falling on Sunday. She faced Kylie Bilchev of Georgia Tech and never gave in, dropping the match 7-6(1), 6-3.
Elza Tomase also went 2-1 in the Upstate. Her back to back strong weekends at Furman are a glowing sign of things to come for the Latvian freshman. She picked up a 6-3, 6-1 decision over Ellie Schoppe of Furman to close out the tournament.
"We will continue to focus on the skills of competing and managing our emotions during match play," Ojeda finished. "We really do have a high level of tennis we are capable of playing at, but it won't matter if we don't become incredible at managing our stress levels during competition."
Esther Adeshina concluded her weekend on a high note, playing a three-set bout with Bella Zamarippa from Texas and emerging victorious, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
All of the scores from this weekend's action can be found below.
Day One Results
Doubles
Rebeka Mertena/Elza Tomase(UT) def. Samantha Buyckx/Ali Despain(CU) 6-3
Cameron Morra/Carson Tanguilig(UNC) vs. Tenika McGiffin/Olivia Symons(UT) 6-3
Alle Sanford/Kacie Harvey(UNC) def. #5 Esther Adeshina/Daria Kuczer(UT) 6-1.
Mahak Jain/Ruth Marsh(GT) def. Kylie Duckworth/Eléonora Molinaro(UT) 6-2
Rebeka Mertena/Elza Tomase(UT) def. Ana Cruz/Misa Malkin(SC) 7-6(4)
Tenika McGiffin/Olivia Symons(UT) def. Julia Adams/Madison Dillon(FUR) 7-6(3)
#5 Esther Adeshina/Daria Kuczer(UT) def. MaryAnn Rompf/Anna Ross(VU) 6-3
Anessa Lee/Yufei Long(VU) def. Kylie Duckworth/Eléonora Molinaro(UT) 6-2
Singles
#55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) def. #32 Cameron Morra(UNC) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Elza Tomase(UT) def. Rosie Garcia Gross(GT) 6-2, 6-0
Eléonora Molinaro(UT) def. Saby Nihalani(WF) 5-7, 6-2, 7-5
Ellie Schoppe(FUR) def. Olivia Symons(UT) 6-2, 6-4
Emma Jackson(Duke) def. Tenika McGiffin(UT) 6-1, 6-2
#25 Kelly Chen(Duke) def. Esther Adeshina(UT) 6-4, 6-2
Christina Mayarova(CU) def. Daria Kuczer(UT) 6-2, 6-3
Mahaik Jain(GT) def. Callie Creath(UT) 6-2, 6-0.
Day Two Results
Doubles
Kylie Duckworth/Eléonora Molinaro(UT) def. Shelly Bereznyak/Dani Schoenly(OSU) 6-4
#40 Megan Davies/Allie Gretkowski(SC) def. Tenika McGiffin/Olivia Symons(UT) 6-1
#8 Anna Brylin/Brooke Killingsworth(WF) def. #5 Esther Adeshina/Daria Kuczer(UT) 6-1
Saby Nihalani/Casie Wooten(WF) def. Rebeka Mertena/Elza Tomase(UT) 7-5
Singles
#55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) def. #104 Julia Adams 6-2, 6-1
Eléonora Molinaro(UT) def. Maddie Atway(OSU) 6-3, 6-2
Tenika McGiffin(UT) def. Ana Campana(WF) 7-5, 7-6(7)
Olivia Symons(UT) def. Misa Malkin(SC) 6-4, 6-3
Daria Kuczer(UT) def. Tamara Racine(MSU) 6-7, 7-6, 6-1
Holly Staff(VU) def. Esther Adeshina(UT) 6-3, 7-6(2)
Madison Dillon(FUR) def. Callie Creath(UT) 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
Ali Despain(CU) def. Elza Tomase(UT) 0-6, 6-4, 7-5
Day Three Results
Singles
Tenika McGiffin(UT) def. #5 Georgia Drummy(Duke) 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3
Eléonora Molinaro(UT) def. Jess Dawson(FUR) 6-2, 6-2
Esther Adeshina(UT) def. Bella Zamarippa(TEX) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
Elza Tomase(UT) def. Ellie Schoppe(FUR) 6-3, 6-1
Kylie Bilchev(GT) def. #55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) 7-6(1), 6-3
Allie Gretkowski(SC) def. Daria Kuczer(UT) 6-7, 7-6, 6-1
MaryAnn Romf(VU) def. Olivia Symons(UT) 6-3, 6-3
Marcella Cruz(VU) def. Callie Creath(UT) 6-3, 6-4
"On the front end of the event, I hoped to see a fierceness in the way we competed for each and every point," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "As the tourney ends, a majority of our team really did a great job of that and their results show."
"I want to point out four players in particular, Rebeka, Tenika, Elza and Ele," Ojeda continued. "They played some complete matches against really strong opponents and I want to recognize their improvement."
McGiffin and Drummy found themselves locked in a battle, going to a tiebreaker once, and playing 22 games of tennis Sunday morning. The savvy veteran found a way to beat the top-5 foe, taking the match 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3.
Molinaro finished the weekend 3-0 in singles play and capped the weekend in style, carding a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Jess Dawson of Furman.
Rebeka Mertena battled through the top flight, winning her first two matches before falling on Sunday. She faced Kylie Bilchev of Georgia Tech and never gave in, dropping the match 7-6(1), 6-3.
Elza Tomase also went 2-1 in the Upstate. Her back to back strong weekends at Furman are a glowing sign of things to come for the Latvian freshman. She picked up a 6-3, 6-1 decision over Ellie Schoppe of Furman to close out the tournament.
"We will continue to focus on the skills of competing and managing our emotions during match play," Ojeda finished. "We really do have a high level of tennis we are capable of playing at, but it won't matter if we don't become incredible at managing our stress levels during competition."
Esther Adeshina concluded her weekend on a high note, playing a three-set bout with Bella Zamarippa from Texas and emerging victorious, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
All of the scores from this weekend's action can be found below.
Day One Results
Doubles
Rebeka Mertena/Elza Tomase(UT) def. Samantha Buyckx/Ali Despain(CU) 6-3
Cameron Morra/Carson Tanguilig(UNC) vs. Tenika McGiffin/Olivia Symons(UT) 6-3
Alle Sanford/Kacie Harvey(UNC) def. #5 Esther Adeshina/Daria Kuczer(UT) 6-1.
Mahak Jain/Ruth Marsh(GT) def. Kylie Duckworth/Eléonora Molinaro(UT) 6-2
Rebeka Mertena/Elza Tomase(UT) def. Ana Cruz/Misa Malkin(SC) 7-6(4)
Tenika McGiffin/Olivia Symons(UT) def. Julia Adams/Madison Dillon(FUR) 7-6(3)
#5 Esther Adeshina/Daria Kuczer(UT) def. MaryAnn Rompf/Anna Ross(VU) 6-3
Anessa Lee/Yufei Long(VU) def. Kylie Duckworth/Eléonora Molinaro(UT) 6-2
Singles
#55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) def. #32 Cameron Morra(UNC) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Elza Tomase(UT) def. Rosie Garcia Gross(GT) 6-2, 6-0
Eléonora Molinaro(UT) def. Saby Nihalani(WF) 5-7, 6-2, 7-5
Ellie Schoppe(FUR) def. Olivia Symons(UT) 6-2, 6-4
Emma Jackson(Duke) def. Tenika McGiffin(UT) 6-1, 6-2
#25 Kelly Chen(Duke) def. Esther Adeshina(UT) 6-4, 6-2
Christina Mayarova(CU) def. Daria Kuczer(UT) 6-2, 6-3
Mahaik Jain(GT) def. Callie Creath(UT) 6-2, 6-0.
Day Two Results
Doubles
Kylie Duckworth/Eléonora Molinaro(UT) def. Shelly Bereznyak/Dani Schoenly(OSU) 6-4
#40 Megan Davies/Allie Gretkowski(SC) def. Tenika McGiffin/Olivia Symons(UT) 6-1
#8 Anna Brylin/Brooke Killingsworth(WF) def. #5 Esther Adeshina/Daria Kuczer(UT) 6-1
Saby Nihalani/Casie Wooten(WF) def. Rebeka Mertena/Elza Tomase(UT) 7-5
Singles
#55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) def. #104 Julia Adams 6-2, 6-1
Eléonora Molinaro(UT) def. Maddie Atway(OSU) 6-3, 6-2
Tenika McGiffin(UT) def. Ana Campana(WF) 7-5, 7-6(7)
Olivia Symons(UT) def. Misa Malkin(SC) 6-4, 6-3
Daria Kuczer(UT) def. Tamara Racine(MSU) 6-7, 7-6, 6-1
Holly Staff(VU) def. Esther Adeshina(UT) 6-3, 7-6(2)
Madison Dillon(FUR) def. Callie Creath(UT) 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
Ali Despain(CU) def. Elza Tomase(UT) 0-6, 6-4, 7-5
Day Three Results
Singles
Tenika McGiffin(UT) def. #5 Georgia Drummy(Duke) 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3
Eléonora Molinaro(UT) def. Jess Dawson(FUR) 6-2, 6-2
Esther Adeshina(UT) def. Bella Zamarippa(TEX) 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
Elza Tomase(UT) def. Ellie Schoppe(FUR) 6-3, 6-1
Kylie Bilchev(GT) def. #55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) 7-6(1), 6-3
Allie Gretkowski(SC) def. Daria Kuczer(UT) 6-7, 7-6, 6-1
MaryAnn Romf(VU) def. Olivia Symons(UT) 6-3, 6-3
Marcella Cruz(VU) def. Callie Creath(UT) 6-3, 6-4
Players Mentioned
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