Women’s Tennis Central: #20 Tennessee at ITA Kickoff Weekend

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Back in action after a 2-0 opening weekend, the Tennessee women's tennis team heads north to the Columbus Regional of ITA Kickoff Weekend, hosted by Ohio State at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center on Saturday, Jan. 29^th, and Sunday, Jan. 30^th.

The region is the only one with all four teams in the ITA Top 25 poll. The hosts, Ohio State, are ranked 10^th. The Lady Vols check in at No. 20, immediately followed by LSU at 21. Oklahoma State rounds out the quartet at No. 24.

Tennessee (2-0) starts its run against SEC-companion LSU at 1 p.m. Saturday. That match is preceded by Ohio State and Oklahoma State. The winner of those two matches will play in the regional final at 1 p.m. Sunday with a trip to Madison, Wisconsin and a berth in the ITA Indoor National Championship on the line. The losers of the first matches will face off in a consolation match at 10 a.m.

Fans can follow along with the Lady Vols using live scoring (found here) or the live stream (found here). New this week, Cracked Racquets will be doing redzone coverage of four ITA Kickoff Weekend regionals, including the Columbus Regional. Information about that live stream will be available Saturday morning.

HEAD COACH ALISON OJEDA
"When we chose this region, we did so knowing it was going to be one of the toughest in the country. We love that we are in this setting and it has been nine years too long since we were at Indoor Nationals. From an opportunity standpoint, you're looking at playing two ranked teams and the chance to get two ranked wins and also qualify for Indoor Nationals, which is huge. It's something this team has not experienced yet and certainly is something Jarryd Chaplin and I, as our seasons progress and as we recruit student-athletes, want to make a habit out of doing."

LAST TIME OUT
Tennessee grabbed a pair of wins in the Tar Heel State, defeating Charlotte, 4-0, in the season opener last Friday, Jan. 21. The Lady Vols then traveled north to Winston-Salem where they downed Wake Forest, 4-3, on Sunday.

Rebeka Mertena, Elza Tomase and Eleonora Molinaro each won two singles points for Tennessee over the weekend, while Daria Kuczer and Tenika McGiffin bested the second-ranked doubles team of Anna Brylin and Brooke Killingsworth from Wake Forest on Sunday.

Molinaro was named the SEC Player of the Week on Wednesday after her wins. Her performance was highlighted by a win over Brooke Killingsworth in a dominating third-set decision, with the match-clinching point on the line.

Tomase garnered SEC Freshman of the Week honors as well after a couple of victories. Her win over No. 58 Casie Wooten of Wake Forest was her 20^th singles win of the year.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
The Lady Vols and LSU Tigers are familiar foes, playing for the 50^th time Saturday. Tennessee leads the all-time series, 30-19, and won the last meeting between the schools on April 21, 2021 at the SEC Championship in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

For the third consecutive matchup, Tennessee's opponent is playing its season opener. The Tigers were slated to face TCU and SMU last weekend, but both matchups were postponed.

LSU returns three 10-match singles winners from last season, headlined by Taylor Bridges who played a team-best 16 matches at the No. 1 spot.

Two Tiger singles players are ranked with Safiya Carrington at No. 54 and Ena Babic at No. 92. The doubles pair of Babic and Bridges also finds itself on the chart at 25^th.

SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES/COWGIRLS
To kickoff the tournament, top-seed Ohio State faces Oklahoma State at 10 a.m.

Ohio State (0-2) is coming off a tough weekend where it dropped a pair of 4-3 contests to No. 6 Duke and No. 8 NC State on the road. The Buckeyes feature four ranked singles players with Irina Cantos Siemers ranked sixth, Lucia Marzal at No. 72, Luna Dormet at 112^nd and Sydni Ratliff tied for 123^rd. In doubles, Cantos Siemers and Ratliff are rated the 29^th duo nationally.

Oklahoma State (1-0) comes into Kickoff Weekend with a win over then-No. 23 Princeton in Stillwater. The Cowgirls downed the Tigers 5-2 behind a doubles point win from the two and three spots. All four singles victories for Oklahoma State were decided in three-set matches.

The Cowgirls, like LSU, have two singles players ranked, plus a doubles team. Oona Orpana is slotted at No. 55, while Mananchaya Sawangkaew finds herself at 86^th. Ayumi Miyamoto and Sawangkaew are the 56^th-ranked doubles team.

KICKOFF HISTORY
The Lady Vols are 11-7 all-time at ITA Kickoff Weekend. The last time Tennessee qualified for Indoor Nationals was 2012 when the Big Orange had a three-year stretch of qualifying. Tennessee has faced LSU once at Kickoff Weekend – 2019 at Florida State when the Tigers downed the Lady Vols, 4-1, in the regional final.

A FRIENDLY FACE
Ohio State is coached by Melissa Schaub, a four-year letter winner from 2002-06. The LVFL was a doubles All-American in 2003, earning 31 victories in doubles that year. She finished her career on Rocky Top with 81 doubles victories.

Schaub and Tennessee head coach Alison Ojeda were also on staff together at Middle Tennessee when Ojeda was head coach of the Blue Raiders.

UP NEXT
Tennessee prepares for its home opener at Goodfriend Tennis Center as the Lady Vols welcome No. 8 NC State to Rocky Top on Friday, Feb. 4, with first serve slated for noon.

Women’s Tennis Central: #20 Tennessee at ITA Kickoff Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Daria Kuczer

Tenika McGiffin

Rebeka Mertena

Eleonora Molinaro

Elza Tomase

University of Tennessee Athletics