McGiffin Wins Bracket, Mertena and Tomase Victorious at College Ranked Spotlight +1

CARY, N.C. – Tenika McGiffin winning her draw was the highlight of a terrific final day of the 2021 College Ranked Spotlight +1 as the Tennessee women's tennis team concluded its third tournament of the fall season.

"This weekend was a very valuable weekend for the team," head coach Alison Ojeda said reflecting on the weekend. "Our girls played against some of the best competition in the country and won 10 of 17 matches. And all but one of the 7 we lost could have gone either way."
The results are starting to show for the preparation Tennessee has been doing this fall and that growth will continue as the fall continues on coach Ojeda mentioned

"Our girls can walk away knowing they just spent the entire weekend improving," Ojeda continued. "We are understanding what it means to compete for every point and that is going to pay dividends for us."

McGiffin entered the day with five-straight wins and took the court against the second Ohio State opponent in a row, this time it was Sydni Ratliff. The first two sets, a back-and-forth affair with each side grabbing a set, McGiffin the first 6-3, Ratliff the second, 7-6(3). The experienced senior stayed cool though dominating the third set 6-0 en route to her second tournament win and first since her freshman year.

Rebeka Mertena turned in a solid week of play going 3-2. She wrapped up the weekend facing Lucia Marzal of Ohio State, after trading the first two sets, 4-6, 6-4, the No. 55 ranked Mertena turned it up in the tiebreaker, winning 10-2.

Elza Tomase picked up the third win of the afternoon, clearing Nandini Sharma of UCF 6-0, 6-2 to finish the weekend 2-2.

Full results from this weekend's action can be found below.

Day One Results
Doubles
Daevenia Achong/Eden Richardson(Miami) def. Eleonora Molinaro/Tenika McGiffin(UT) 6-2
Andrea Cerdan/Nicole Hammond(Mich.) def. Rebeka Mertena/Elza Tomase(UT) 6-2
Eleonora Molinaro/Tenika McGiffin(UT) def. Elaine Chervinsky/Natasha Subhash(UVA) 6-4
Marcelina Podlinska/Emma Staker(OU) def. Rebeka Mertena/Elza Tomase(UT) 6-1

Day Two Results
Singles
#95 Layne Sleeth(OU) def. #55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) 6-2, 6-2
Eden Richardson(Miami) def. Eleonora Molinaro(UT) 6-1, 6-2
Tenika McGiffin(UT) def. Audrey Boch-Collins(Miami) 6-2, 7-6(2)
Elza Tomase(UT) def. Andrea Cerdan(Mich.) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
#55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) def. Daevina Achong(Miami) 6-2, 6-4
Hibah Shaikh(UVA) def. Eleonora Molinaro(UT) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1

Day Three Results
Singles
#48 Abigail Rencheli (NCST) def. #55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) 6-3, 6-2
Tenika McGiffin(UT) def. Snow Han(USC) 7-6(1), 6-4
Eleonora Molinaro(UT) def. Marie Mattel(UCF) 6-3, 3-6, (10-7)
Luna Dormet(OSU) def. Elza Tomase(UT) 6-4, 6-4
Tenika McGiffin(UT) def. Luna Dormet(OSU) 6-0, 6-1
#55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) def. Emma Jackson(Duke) 6-2, 6-3
Nicole Hammond(MICH) def. Eleonora Molinaro(UT) 7-6, 1-6, (10-4)
Snow Han(USC) def. Elza Tomase(UT) 6-1, 6-1

Day Four Results
Doubles
Hibah Shaikh/Melodie Collard(UVA) def. Tenika McGiffin/Eleonora Molinaro(UT) 6-1
Sara Nayar/Abigail Rencheli(NCST) def. Rebeka Mertena/Elza Tomase(UT) 7-5

Singles
Tenika McGiffin(UT) def. Sydni Ratliff(OSU) 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-0
#55 Rebeka Mertena(UT) def. Lucia Marzal(OSU) 4-6, 6-4, (10-2)
Elza Tomase(UT) def. Nandini Sharma(UCF) 6-0, 6-2
Victoria Hu(PRIN) def. Eleonora Molinaro(UT) 6-4, 7-5

University of Tennessee | Official Athletics Site

McGiffin Wins Bracket, Mertena and Tomase Victorious at College Ranked Spotlight +1

Players Mentioned

Tenika McGiffin

Rebeka Mertena

Eleonora Molinaro

Elza Tomase

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