University of Tennessee Athletics
Saturday, January 24
Knoxville, Tenn.
11 a.m. ET
University of Tennessee
4
vs
3
Clemson
Photo by: Kate Luffman/Tennessee Athletics
#16 Lady Vols Complete Comeback, Defeat Clemson 4-3 in ITA Kickoff Weekend
January 24, 2026 | Women's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Despite losing the doubles point and dropping five first sets in singles play, the University of Tennessee women's tennis team earned a 4-3 victory over Clemson on Saturday.
"The big thing about Tennessee Lady Vols Tennis is that we're going to fight for every point, and we're going to compete to the end," head coach Alison Ojeda said of her team, following the comeback win. "That's what we did today."
With the victory, the No. 16 Lady Vols earn a spot at the ITA Team Indoor Nationals, set to be contested in both Chicago and Champaign, Ill. from Feb. 6 to Feb. 10.
In doubles competition, Maeve Thornton and Saray Yli-Piipari won their set on court three. Both sides held serve to a 3-3 score before trading breaks to a 4-4 tally. The Lady Vol duo took each of their next two games, including an deuce point winner to go up a break, taking the win by a 6-4 final margin. The Lady Vols would ultimately drop the first dual point, taking 6-4 losses on courts one and two.
In singles play, The Lady Vols couldn't stop the Tigers' momentum, dropping five first sets. The Tigers quickly showed a clear game plan, as on all courts, Clemson repeatedly delivered well-placed drop-shots, catching the Lady Vols on their heels.
"We're doing a really good job from the baseline," Ojeda said, "so teams are starting to make adjustments. One adjustment is that they're using the front part of the court against us, and we're not recognizing it quite soon enough."
Senior Catherine Aulia, whose style of play consistently brings her towards the net, faced no such difficulty with the drop-shots and was the lone Tennessee player to take her first set. Playing on court three, she managed a 6-3 win in her first, and would take the second set by the same margin. She was the first athlete off the court, knotting the dual match at one point a piece.
Clemson then clinched courts six and four in quick succession, putting them on the verge of an upset victory and needing only one win between courts one, two and five.
On court two, Lady Vol senior Leyla Britez Risso found her rhythm after a contentious first set loss. In her second set, she would pounce to a 3-0 advantage and hold out to a 6-2 win. Her third set was more of the same, as she again managed three breaks to earn a 6-2 set win. Her momentum-shifting win turned to focus to courts one and five with the match on the line.
On court five, Saray Yli-Piipari and Clemson's Talia Neilson-Gatenby battled to a 4-4 tally in the first set, but the Lady Vol surrendered a break, opening the door for Neilson-Gatenby to seal a 6-4 first set. Despite the setback, Yli-Piipari was undeterred, and the two held to a 3-3 ledger in the second set, before trading breaks to make it 4-4. The Tennessee sophomore held serve and battled to earn a break on deuce point, ending the set with a 6-4 advantage and forcing a third.
"When we were down, we were all enjoying it," Yli-Piipari said of her team's multiple individual comebacks. "We live for those situations."
Senior Vanesa Suarez found herself in a similar position, playing from behind after dropping her first set, and holding serve to 5-5. Suarez held serve to go up 6-5, and managed her first break point in 13 games, to win her second set, 7-5.
With the Lady Vols needing victories on both courts to advance to the national meet, neither Suarez or Yli-Piipari seemed able to take or maintain an advantage. On court five, the two Sophomores each held serve to a 6-5 score, before Yli-Piipari took the lone break point of the set, sealing the match victory with a 7-5 third set and tying the dual at 3-3.
All eyes turned to court one, where Suarez and Clemson Senior Jade Groen found themselves in a dog fight, trading breaks for the first three games, with Groen earning the early advantage. Groen would hold her lead to a 5-4 score when, facing her team's elimination, Suarez would rally and manage a set-tying break.
"I love fighting back," Suarez said. "When I'm down, I think I love it even more… being out there, with the [crowd] loud, all of my teammates next to me, I just love it."
Despite the clutch performance, she would hand the edge right back to Groen, with two double-faults putting her down a break yet again, 6-5. Suarez rallied to force a tiebreaker, making for a total of six break points in the dual-deciding set.
In the tiebreaker, Suarez mustered a 5-1 advantage early, and would hang on to win the set by a 7-4 tiebreaker margin. Suarez collected two aces in the tiebreaker game.
The Lady Vols move to 2-0 on the dual season, and will now travel to Illinois looking to claim the first team championship of the season.
"The big thing about Tennessee Lady Vols Tennis is that we're going to fight for every point, and we're going to compete to the end," head coach Alison Ojeda said of her team, following the comeback win. "That's what we did today."
With the victory, the No. 16 Lady Vols earn a spot at the ITA Team Indoor Nationals, set to be contested in both Chicago and Champaign, Ill. from Feb. 6 to Feb. 10.
In doubles competition, Maeve Thornton and Saray Yli-Piipari won their set on court three. Both sides held serve to a 3-3 score before trading breaks to a 4-4 tally. The Lady Vol duo took each of their next two games, including an deuce point winner to go up a break, taking the win by a 6-4 final margin. The Lady Vols would ultimately drop the first dual point, taking 6-4 losses on courts one and two.
In singles play, The Lady Vols couldn't stop the Tigers' momentum, dropping five first sets. The Tigers quickly showed a clear game plan, as on all courts, Clemson repeatedly delivered well-placed drop-shots, catching the Lady Vols on their heels.
"We're doing a really good job from the baseline," Ojeda said, "so teams are starting to make adjustments. One adjustment is that they're using the front part of the court against us, and we're not recognizing it quite soon enough."
Senior Catherine Aulia, whose style of play consistently brings her towards the net, faced no such difficulty with the drop-shots and was the lone Tennessee player to take her first set. Playing on court three, she managed a 6-3 win in her first, and would take the second set by the same margin. She was the first athlete off the court, knotting the dual match at one point a piece.
Clemson then clinched courts six and four in quick succession, putting them on the verge of an upset victory and needing only one win between courts one, two and five.
On court two, Lady Vol senior Leyla Britez Risso found her rhythm after a contentious first set loss. In her second set, she would pounce to a 3-0 advantage and hold out to a 6-2 win. Her third set was more of the same, as she again managed three breaks to earn a 6-2 set win. Her momentum-shifting win turned to focus to courts one and five with the match on the line.
On court five, Saray Yli-Piipari and Clemson's Talia Neilson-Gatenby battled to a 4-4 tally in the first set, but the Lady Vol surrendered a break, opening the door for Neilson-Gatenby to seal a 6-4 first set. Despite the setback, Yli-Piipari was undeterred, and the two held to a 3-3 ledger in the second set, before trading breaks to make it 4-4. The Tennessee sophomore held serve and battled to earn a break on deuce point, ending the set with a 6-4 advantage and forcing a third.
"When we were down, we were all enjoying it," Yli-Piipari said of her team's multiple individual comebacks. "We live for those situations."
Senior Vanesa Suarez found herself in a similar position, playing from behind after dropping her first set, and holding serve to 5-5. Suarez held serve to go up 6-5, and managed her first break point in 13 games, to win her second set, 7-5.
With the Lady Vols needing victories on both courts to advance to the national meet, neither Suarez or Yli-Piipari seemed able to take or maintain an advantage. On court five, the two Sophomores each held serve to a 6-5 score, before Yli-Piipari took the lone break point of the set, sealing the match victory with a 7-5 third set and tying the dual at 3-3.
All eyes turned to court one, where Suarez and Clemson Senior Jade Groen found themselves in a dog fight, trading breaks for the first three games, with Groen earning the early advantage. Groen would hold her lead to a 5-4 score when, facing her team's elimination, Suarez would rally and manage a set-tying break.
"I love fighting back," Suarez said. "When I'm down, I think I love it even more… being out there, with the [crowd] loud, all of my teammates next to me, I just love it."
Despite the clutch performance, she would hand the edge right back to Groen, with two double-faults putting her down a break yet again, 6-5. Suarez rallied to force a tiebreaker, making for a total of six break points in the dual-deciding set.
In the tiebreaker, Suarez mustered a 5-1 advantage early, and would hang on to win the set by a 7-4 tiebreaker margin. Suarez collected two aces in the tiebreaker game.
The Lady Vols move to 2-0 on the dual season, and will now travel to Illinois looking to claim the first team championship of the season.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1,2
#1 Singles Match
123
Jade Groen / 0 [CU]
656
477
#2 Singles Match
123
Romana Cisovska / 0 [CU]
622
366
#3 Singles Match
12
Ria Bhakta / 0 (71/-) [CU]
33
66
#4 Singles Match
12
Rinon Okuwaki / 0 [CU]
66
43
#5 Singles Match
123
Talia Neilson-Gatenb / 0 [CU]
645
467
#6 Singles Match
12
Artemis Aslanisvili / 0 [CU]
67
35
Order of Finish:
3,6,4,2,5,1
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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