#7 Lady Vols Drop Marathon Match to #19 Sooners

Friday, March 6

Knoxville, Tenn.

5 p.m. ET

University of Tennessee

Oklahoma

March 06, 2026 | Women's Tennis

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 7 University of Tennessee Women's Tennis Team (7-2, 3-1) fell, 4-3, to the No. 19 Oklahoma Sooners (11-4, 2-2) at Barksdale Stadium Friday night, bringing the Lady Vols' five-match winning streak to an end.

"Oklahoma is one of the best teams on paper," Tennessee head coach Alison Ojeda said. "What I learned from tonight is... I think we were a bit too emotional in a couple spots… if we can figure that part out, which we will for sure, then we've got a darn good team."

Oklahoma opened the afternoon with a 1-0 lead by winning the doubles point, courtesy of wins on courts two and three. Tennessee tandem Vanesa Suarez and Francesca Mattioli, manning court one, led by a 5-2 tally on the top court before play concluded. They were just one point from defeating OU's Gilheany/Nahum duo, the No. 1 doubles pairing in the country.

The Sooners picked up the first singles point on court six to grab a 2-0 lead in the dual. Then, the next point would come over an hour later, as the top five courts would each become three-set matches.

No. 74 Catherine Aulia gave the Lady Vols their first point of the night, defeating OU's Chloe Noel on court four. The Lady Vol senior dropped her first set, 5-7, before finding her form in a 6-2 win of her second set. She then posted a dominant 6-1 showing in the third to get the home team on the board. The victory marked her fourth-consecutive singles win.

No. 20 Leyla Britez Risso logged the next point for Tennessee, tying the dual at 2-2 with her win on court three. The senior jumped to a 6-2 win in her opening set and took a 3-0 lead in the second, but Oklahoma's No. 30 Julia Garcia Ruiz fought back to take the second stanza 6-4. Britez Risso would then register a 6-1 third set to take the match and keep her now eight-match win streak intact.

OU would then reclaim the lead with a win on court one, as the Sooners' No. 71 Evialina Laskevich would earn a hard fought 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 win over Tennessee freshman Katrina Scott. Facing a 2-3 deficit, Tennessee's last hopes resided in Suarez on court two and Mattioli on court five.

Mattioli would tie the dual again, 3-3, with a victory over Oklahoma's Salakthip Ounmuang. The Lady Vol sophomore opened with a steady 6-3 set. She held a 4-3 advantage in the second before the Sooner won three straight games to force a third. Mattioli would go on to win the final set 6-2, snapping off a three-game winning stretch of her own to seal the match.

The dual was to be decided on court two, where the most contentious match of the evening had reached its decisive set. Tennessee's Vanesa Suarez and Oklahoma's No. 63 Edda Mamedova played a lengthy first set, with the Sooner ultimately claiming a 7-6 (4) tiebreak decision. With momentum on her side, Mamedova pulled ahead to a 5-2 advantage in the second, but the Lady Vol senior delivered a masterful five-game run to crawl back to a 7-5 decision in her favor.

In the dual-deciding set, Mamedova took a quick 3-1 advantage, and Suarez couldn't repeat her second-set heroics, falling 6-1 and sealing the dual for Oklahoma.

The No. 7 Lady Vols return to action Sunday, as they host the No. 71 Arkansas Razorbacks at Barksdale Stadium. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. ET.