University of Tennessee
#25 Alabama
Women’s Tennis Central: #6 Tennessee vs. #25 Alabama and #64 Mississippi State
March 20, 2025 | Women's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The sixth-ranked Tennessee women's tennis team is preparing to host No. 25 Alabama and No. 64 Mississippi State at Barksdale Stadium. The Lady Vols will face the Crimson Tide at 5 p.m. on Friday, before playing the Bulldogs at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Last weekend, the Lady Volunteers won both their matches, defeating No. 70 Arkansas, 6-1, before collecting a 4-3 victory at No. 12 Oklahoma. In the triumph against the Razorbacks, Catherine Aulia posted her 50th career doubles decision. Aulia and partner Leyla Britez Risso tallied a 6-2 win over the No. 82-ranked pair of Anet Koskel and Grace O'Donnell.
Aulia and Britez Risso both found success over the weekend, combining for a flawless 8-0 record. They each boasted two singles wins and two doubles victories. Aulia tallied her highest-ranked win of the season, topping No. 17 Julia Garcia Ruiz in a 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-5 result.
Freshman Francesca Mattioli logged her best weekend to date, carding back-to-back singles wins at Arkansas and Oklahoma. Mattioli edged Anet Koskel,6-1, 6-3, before defeating No. 74 Emma Staker, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The victory against No. 74 Staker marked Mattioli's first ranked triumph of her career.
Tennessee has knocked off eight ranked opponents thus far, defeating No. 15 Texas Tech, No. 15 Pepperdine, No.4 Stanford, No. 67 Kentucky, No. 71 Ole Miss, No. 25 South Carolina, No. 70 Arkansas and No. 12 Oklahoma.
Live stats for both matches can be found here and a live stream can be found here.
MILESTONE TRACKER: Head Coach Alison Ojeda is approaching 200 career wins. She currently owns 199 triumphs, with 154 of them coming at Tennessee. Ojeda will join two previous Tennessee head coaches, Mike Patrick and Sonia Hanhn-Patrick, who have hit the 200 mark in their careers.
A PEEK AT THE CHARTS: The Intercollegiate Tennis Association announced on March 18 that the squad is No. 6 in the seventh poll of 2025. The following members of the team were ranked in the third spring ITA individual poll posted on March 18, 2025:
Singles
No. 7 Elza Tomase
No. 32 Catherine Aulia
No. 92 Leyla Britez Risso
Doubles
No. 44 Catherine Aulia & Leyla Britez Risso
No. 51 Elza Tomase & Catherine Aulia
No. 59 Elza Tomase & Elim Yan
Alabama:
Singles
No. 75 Petra Sedlackova
Mississippi State:
Doubles
No. 72 Athina Pitta & Gianna Oboniye
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON TIDE: The Lady Vols lead the all-time series, 41-18, against Alabama. Twenty of Tennessee's 41 wins have come in Knoxville. The last time the two teams met was last season in Tuscaloosa, Ala., when UT posted a 4-1 victory on March 31, 2024. The Crimson Tide own a 9-6 overall record and a 3-4 conference mark so far in 2025.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS: Tennessee leads the edge over Mississippi State, 41-11. The two teams last met over a year ago on March 8, 2024, when the Lady Vols etched a 6-1 victory in Knoxville. The Bulldogs possess a 10-7 overall record and a 0-7 conference mark thus far.
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Players Mentioned
