#16 Lady Vols Battle Hard, Fall to South Carolina, 4-1

Friday, March 11

Columbia, SC

5 PM

University of Tennessee

South Carolina

#16 Lady Vols Battle Hard, Fall to South Carolina, 4-1

March 11, 2022 | Women's Tennis

Box Score Box Score WATCH - Coach Alison Ojeda Post-match WATCH - Tenika McGiffin Post-Match WATCH - Rebeka Mertena Post-Match

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Fighting till the bitter end, the 16^th-ranked Tennessee women's tennis team fell to South Carolina, 4-1, Friday night at the Carolina Indoor Tennis Center.

The Lady Vols (8-3, 2-1 SEC), got off to a slow start, dropping the doubles point and the first set on all six courts. Tennessee would not stay down though, showing moxie and resiliency in their second-set battles. The Big Orange was able to force four third-sets and had momentum on the courts that were playing as the Gamecocks clinched.

No. 45 Tenika McGiffin grabbed the only point for the Lady Vols, posting an impressive comeback victory on Court 2. She dropped the first game, 6-2, to 66^th-ranked Ayana Akli, but the experienced veteran kept her cool, working her spots and pulling out her best shots in critical deuce-points. She took both the second and third sets by a 6-2 score to capture the win.

"We're in SEC season now and every match is going to be really tough, credit to South Carolina, they came out guns blazing and they were hungry today," McGiffin said post-match. "Today was one of those days where you just had to get gritty. I wasn't playing my best tennis, but I competed. I wanted to be out here all day, no matter how long it took and I found a way to stick in there and get a couple of important points to change the momentum. I think that really worked in my favor."

Though her match went unfinished, UT got a tremendous showing on Court 1 from No. 31 Rebeka Mertena. She faced second-ranked Sarah Hamner and Hamner got ahead early, taking the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6(1). Mertena fought back and applied the pressure by putting balls in the court in the second set. She forcing the Gamecock freshman to make mistakes, and was able to pick up the second frame, 6-3. The senior from Latvia was out to a 1-0 advantage when the Gamecocks clinched.

"Obviously, I knew it was going to be a tough match and that I would need to battle every point," Mertena said afterwards. "I gave everything I had in that first set, but I knew I could give even more in the second. I was just thinking that every point is a new point. I was leaving all the past points behind me, win or lose."

Full results from the match can be found below.

UP NEXT
Tennessee travels south to take on No. 15 Florida on Sunday, March 13, at 1 p.m. at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.

#59 South Carolina 4, #16 Tennessee 1

Singles
1. #31 Rebeka Mertena (TENN) vs. #2 Sarah Hamner (SC) 6-7 (1), 6-3, 1-0, unfinished
2. #45 McGiffin, Tenika (TENN) def. #66 Ayana Akli (SC) 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
3. Megan Davies (SC) def. #75 Elza Tomase (TENN) 6-3, 1-6, 6-1
4. #85 Elise Mills (SC) def. Esther Adeshina (TENN) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
5. Misa Malkin (SC) def. Daria Kuczera (TENN) 6-4, 6-4
6. Eleonora Molinaro (TENN) vs. Ana Cruz (SC) 4-6, 6-4, unfinished

Order of Finish: 5,4,2,3

Doubles
1. Megan Davies/Sarah Hamner (SC) def. #10 Tenika McGiffin/Daria Kuczer (TENN) 6-2
2. Ayana Akli/Ana Cruz (SC) def. Esther Adeshina /Elza Tomase (TENN) 6-1
3. Elise Mills/Lindsay Tulenko (SC) vs. Eleonora Molinaro /Rebeka Mertena (TENN) 3-4, unfinished

Order of Finish: 2,1