University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Texas A&M
Late Rally Stopped Short as Lady Vols Fall, 4-3, to #12 Texas A&M
March 25, 2022 | Women's Tennis
KNOXVILLE – Making a furious comeback in singles, the Tennessee women's tennis team fell just short of #12 Texas A&M, 4-3, Friday afternoon at Barksdale Stadium.
It was an anticlimactic and odd finish to the match on Court 3 as Tennessee's Elza Tomase was battling through a second-set tiebreaker, her second tiebreaker of the match. She fell in the first set, 6-7(5), and fell behind big, 6-0, in the second set's tiebreak, but fended off six-consecutive match-points and even went ahead, 7-6. As the freshman from Latvia looked to close it out, she sent a cross-court backhand that appeared to bounce in the middle of the line, but was ruled out and confirmed by the chair official.
Play continued, with the tiebreak knotted up at 7-7. Tomase and Texas A&M's No. 93-ranked Mary Stoiana battled, with strong forehands that traveled deep into the opposition's court, then suddenly the match ended as Tomase was overruled on an out call, giving Stoiana the victory as the game-penalty awarded the match to the Aggies.
"Credit to A&M, they stepped up and closed the match out, so good job on their end," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "For our team, it's a disappointing one. It's tough, I feel like this is the first time in a while that we were this close to competing all across the board, all nine points. Because of that we almost upset a top team."
"We're good though -- the opponents are really good as well," Ojeda continued. "I am proud of the progress we made today, because we're putting ourselves in a better position than we were in even 48 hours ago. Good things (today), but my heart hurts. Tough one, it is what it is and we will be back at it (on) Sunday."
There were many bright spots around the Tennessee (8-6, 2-4 SEC) lineup. Starting in doubles, Esther Adeshina and Rebeka Mertena were on fire on Court 2. Playing for the first time as a doubles team, the pair defeated 48th-ranked Carson Branstine/Stoiana, 6-1.
Mertena kept it rolling in singles, winning the 75th match of her career. The senior found what worked early and she kept going to it, taking the match 6-2, 6-4. She was able to tie the match at 1-1, being the first singles court to finish. Texas A&M (21-1, 7-0 SEC) claimed the doubles point with victories on Courts 1 and 3.
Daria Kuczer did her thing on Court 5, taking the second Big Orange point of the afternoon. Kuczer put lots of balls in the court and forced Gianna Pielet to go on the defensive. She translated that into attacking shots and was able to pull out the 6-4, 6-3 win.
Tennessee got its third and final point of the day on Court 6, playing out the final few games of a 3-set battle after the match on Court 3 concluded. After falling in the first set, 4-6, Eleonora Molinaro fought back to take the second frame, 6-4, and kept that energy going as she grabbed a 6-3 victory in the third.
Full results from this afternoon's match can be found below.
UP NEXT
Tennessee looks to snap its skid as it faces LSU on Sunday at Noon ET at Barksdale Stadium. The match marks the Bark at Barksdale event where fans are encouraged to bring their dogs to the match (on a leash). There will also be a t-shirt giveaway for the first 100 fans in attendance of the match.
75 FOR MERTENA
Rebeka Mertena won her 75th career match in singles. She is now only 12 wins away from ranking top-15 in program history in singles victories.
200 AGAIN
For the third-consecutive home match, over 200 fans were on hand at Barksdale Stadium to watch the Lady Vols compete. Tennessee looks to extend that streak in the Sunday matinee.
BACK ON TRACK
Eleonora Molinaro picked up a win on Court 6 for her 12th win in the last 13 matches that played to completion. She had her 11-match win streak snapped at Florida on March 13th.
#12 Texas A&M 4, #31 Tennessee 3
Singles
1. #44 Rebeka Mertena (TENN) def. #23 Carson Branstine (TAMU) 6-2, 6-4
2. #29 Tatiana Makarova (TAMU) def. #37 Tenika McGiffin (TENN) 6-0, 6-4
3. #93 Mary Stoiana (TAMU) def. #88 Elza Tomase (TENN) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-7)
4. Jayci Goldsmith (TAMU) def. Esther Adeshina (TENN) 7-5, 6-2
5. Daria Kuczer (TENN) def. Gianna Pielet (TAMU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Eleonora Molinaro (TENN) def. Katya Townsend (TAMU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Order of Finish: 1,4,2,5,3,6
Doubles
1. #2 Jayci Goldsmith/Tatiana Makarova (TAMU) def. #13 Tenika McGiffin/Daria Kuczer (TENN) 7-5
2. Esther Adeshina/Rebeka Mertena (TENN) def. #48 Carson Branstine/Mary Stoiana (TAMU) 6-1
3. Gianna Pielet/Katya Townsend (TAMU) def. Kylie Duckworth/Olivia Symons (TENN) 6-3
Order of Finish: 2,3,1
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
1,4,2,5,3,6
Players Mentioned
