University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Vanderbilt
Women’s Tennis Central: Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt, Kentucky
April 07, 2022 | Women's Tennis
KNOXVILLE – Prepped and ready to go for its final home weekend of the 2022 regular season, the Tennessee women's tennis team hosts Vanderbilt on Friday, April 8 at noon, and Kentucky on Sunday, April 10 at noon. Both matches are scheduled to be played at Barksdale Stadium but are subject to move inside due to weather.
The weekend marks All Vol Weekend, a celebration of multiple Tennessee athletics events on campus. The Lady Vols will also celebrate three seniors for their contributions to the program prior to Sunday's match against the Wildcats.
A shuttle will be giving rides back-and-forth from the SC40 lot for Friday's match against the Commodores from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. It will also provide rides to the lot after the match.
Sunday features a canvas tote bag giveaway, while supplies last. It also is the rescheduled date for Bark at Barksdale. Fans are encouraged to bring their dog to the match, but they must be leashed. Each dog will receive a Lady Vols tennis ball. In addition, senior day celebrations for Callie Creath, Kylie Duckworth and Tenika McGiffin will take place before the match and the Big Orange will celebrate its Title IX Celebration match.
Fans unable to attend can watch the SEC CrossCourt Cast found here for Friday's match. Further, live stats can be viewed here and PlaySight for Sunday's match is available here.
HEAD COACH ALISON OJEDA
"This year's senior weekend is one of the most special weekends in my 24 years of college tennis. All three of the young ladies being recognized on Sunday, started their careers at the University of Tennessee. With the changing landscape of college athletics and the addition of the transfer portal, that is becoming less and less common. As a coach, I've been able to witness the tremendous growth Tenika McGiffin, Kylie Duckworth and Callie Creath have all experienced. On the court, they, of course, have developed in many ways, all have improved their level of tennis. But off the court, they have developed in ways that surely make their loved ones proud. I'm certain all three of these graduating Lady Vols will go on to be very successful in the careers of choice."
"In regards to our team, we are still developing every day at practice. A couple of weeks ago, I had promised we were going to tighten up our discipline in a few areas so that we can fire at all cylinders, and that's what is happening. We competed at every spot last weekend and we will do so again this weekend. One of the many things that makes our team special is that we are still hungry to learn. That's allowing us coaches to continue to train our players at an intense and focused level. I look forward to being on court with this group again tomorrow."
RANKING THE LADY VOLS
Here is how the Lady Vols stack up in the most recent individual rankings, released Wednesday, April 6th:
Singles
Rebeka Mertena – No. 30
Tenika McGiffin – No. 55
Elza Tomase – No. 106
Doubles
Daria Kuczer/Tenika McGiffin – No. 15
Esther Adeshina/Elza Tomase – No. 69
SCOUTING THE COMMODORES
Vanderbilt (12-7, 3-6 SEC) comes off a 2-1 home weekend where they earned an upset victory over South Carolina, 4-3, on Friday night.
Dasha Kourkina comes in white hot for Vandy, winning her last five matches and holding a 14-4 dual record this season. She is 10-4 when playing at the No. 6 spot, but is unbeaten when player higher in the order. Kourkina and MaryAnn Rompf also hold the best doubles record at 6-0, with five of those six wins coming at No. 3.
The Commodores hold two ranked singles players and a ranked doubles pairing. Those can be found below.
Singles
Anna Ross – No. 46
Anessa Lee – No. 78
Doubles
Anna Ross/Holly Staff – No. 76
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Kentucky (12-10, 0-9 SEC) enters the weekend on a six-match slide. They are 1-4 when playing away from Lexington, but posted an impressive 12-1 record in non-conference action.
Florencia Urrutia owns the best record of all Kentucky singles players at 13-5. She is 9-1 at No. 4 and 4-1 at No. 3. On the doubles side, Ellie Eades/Carla Girbau have the best record on the team of 8-5 and are 7-4 at No. 2.
UK has one ranked player in both singles and doubles:
Singles
Carlota Molina – No. 114
Doubles
Carlota Molina/Elizabeth Stevens – No. 57
ALL-TIME SERIES
Tennessee leads the all-time series with both Vanderbilt and Kentucky. The Lady Vols hold a 35-28 record against the Commodores and are 21-8 against VU in Knoxville.
Against Kentucky, Tennessee is 27-20 and 11-8 on Rocky Top.
WINDICATORS
The No. 3 position in Tennessee's singles lineup and the No. 1 doubles spot appear to hold incredible weight on the outcome of the match. When the Lady Vols win or go unfinished on Court 3 in singles, the team is 11-0. When UT loses, it is 0-6. Similarly, when UT wins Court 1 in doubles, it is 8-0. After losing it? The Big Orange is 0-5
60, 60 CLUB
Daria Kuczer is looking for her 60th career doubles victory Friday afternoon. She picked up her 60th career singles win last Friday afternoon at Arkansas.
