University of Tennessee Athletics
Tomase Tabbed SEC Player of the Week
January 29, 2025 | Women's Tennis
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Tennessee women's tennis senior Elza Tomase was named SEC Player of the Week, the conference announced on Wednesday afternoon.
"One of my favorite things about being a coach is being able to share stories like Elza's," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "She came to Tennessee as a talented freshman with an amazing heart and fun personality. She was also someone who had a lot of work to do in order to accomplish what we all knew she could. During her four years in college, she's matured into an accountable coachable tennis player, a dependable person and an outstanding team leader!"
Tomase was a key factor in No. 18 Tennessee's victories over both Texas Tech and No. 15 Ohio State, helping propel the team to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship for the first time since 2012.
This marks the third time in Tomase's four-year career that she has earned a weekly conference honor.
On Saturday afternoon, in the 4-0 sweep against the Red Raiders, Tomase and partner Elim Yan knocked off the No. 15th-ranked duo of Avelina Sayfetdinova and Mariia Hlahola in a 6-1 result. Tomase then triumphed over Sayfetdinova in singles, winning 6-3, 6-2.
In the 4-3 victory over the Buckeyes, Tomase and Yan added their second straight win against Dani Schoenly and Sydni Ratliff, 6-2. Tomase capped her stellar weekend with her first top-10 singles win of the season, defeating No. 8 Luciana Perry 6-3, 6-4.
"In order for us to win and advance to ITA Indoor Nationals, we as coaches needed to spend more time on her teammate's courts," Ojeda stated. That could have been hard for her because she was playing a top-10 opponent. However, she understood and competed so well to win for her team. She is so deserving of SEC Player of the Week."
The senior was the only Lady Vol to finish the weekend undefeated, with a perfect 4-0 ledger. The Liepaja, Latvia, native also remains unbeaten in singles, holding a flawless 4-0 record.
Tennessee has now snagged the first two SEC weekly awards, with Leyla Britez Risso earning Player of the Week on Jan. 22, and Tomase collecting the honor Wednesday.
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