University of Tennessee Athletics
Women’s Tennis Central: NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
May 16, 2024 | Women's Tennis
STILLWATER, Okla. – For the first time in over a decade, the Tennessee women's tennis team will compete in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Women's Tennis Team Championship. The Lady Volunteers will face eighth-seeded UCLA on Friday at Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater, Okla., with first serve set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
No. 16-seeded Tennessee (21-7, 9-4) ended top-ranked, undefeated Oklahoma State's 29-match winning streak, securing a 4-2 victory Saturday afternoon in the Sweet 16, also in Stillwater. The historic victory snapped the Cowgirls' longest winning streak in program history, giving them their first defeat since May 6, 2023.
The Lady Volunteers punched their ticket to the Elite Eight for the third time in program history and did so by defeating a top-ranked seed in postseason play for the first time. It marked the second time in the 64-team era (since 1999) any team has knocked off the top overall seed before the Elite Eight.
No. 14 Sofia Cabezas was stellar, clinching the decision to propel the Big Orange to the quarterfinals. Cabezas beat No. 18 Anastasiya Komar, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6) for her first clinch of the spring. The victory marked the seventh time this season Cabezas has downed a ranked opponent and gave her a fourth top-25 triumph.
Tickets for the championship can be found HERE. Fans unable to attend can access live streaming HERE, and live stats can be found HERE.
CHECK-IN ON THE RANKINGS
Below are the ITA team and individual rankings for each team.
#16 Tennessee
Singles
#14 Sofia Cabezas
Doubles
#39 Sofia Cabezas/Esther Adeshina
#8 UCLA
Singles
#27 Kimmi Hance
#32 Tian Fangran
#73 Bianca Jolie Fernandez
Doubles
#13 Tian Fangran/Elise Wagle
#42 Kimmi Hance/Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer
SCOUTING THE BRUINS
UCLA (21-5, 9-1 Pac-12) is one of two women's tennis programs (Stanford) to qualify for the NCAA Championships each year since the tournament format was adopted, stretching their run to 42 seasons with its latest selection. Head coach Stella Sampras Webster has guided her teams to a pair of NCAA titles during that time, securing titles in 2014 and 2008. The Bruins currently sit at an all-time record of 99-39 when playing in the NCAA Team Championship.
The squad was crowned Pac-12 regular season champions and garnered significant Pac-12 recognition during the end of the year awards. The duo of Tian Fangran and Elise Wagle were named the Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year. Kimmi Hance and Tian Fangran, the reigning NCAA singles champion, earned First Team All-Conference accolades in singles. Bianca Jolie Fernadez were recognized as a Pac-12 All-Conference doubles team, while Elise Wagle and Ahmani Guichard were listed on the honorable mention list.
The Lady Vols and the Bruins will meet for the fourth time in program history, with the Bruins claiming all three prior contests. The two squads last met on Feb. 6, 2003, when the Big Orange dropped a 4-3 battle. Before that, UCLA posted a 5-0 victory against the Lady Vols on May 15, 1997, and took the first match in the series on Feb. 28, 1991, 5-2.
QUARTERFINAL HISTORY
Tennessee has garnered three total NCAA Elite Eight appearances in school history, with the other two appearances coming in 2010 and 2002. This year marks the first quarterfinal appearance for the Lady Vols in the Alison Ojeda era. In UT's first appearance in the Elite Eight in 2002, it defeated VCU, 4-3, to reach the semifinals for the first and only time. In 2010, Tennessee dropped a 4-2 result against Notre Dame.
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