#19 Lady Vols Open Final Homestand with 4-1 win over #38 Ole Miss

Thursday, April 9

Knoxville, Tenn.

5 p.m. ET

University of Tennessee

Ole Miss

Photo by: Ryan Beatty/Tennessee Athletics

#19 Lady Vols Open Final Homestand with 4-1 win over #38 Ole Miss

April 09, 2026 | Women's Tennis

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 19 University of Tennessee women's tennis team (12-8, 7-7 SEC) earned a 4-1 victory Thursday, taking down the No. 38 Ole Miss Rebels (13-10, 5-9) at Barksdale Stadium, 4-1.

"[This win] was important for a couple of reasons," Tennessee Head Coach Alison Ojeda said. "It allows our team to realize how good we are, because they are ranked… for a reason. [Ole Miss] has beaten good teams, and we did a good job coming in and taking care of business."

Tennessee opened with a decisive win of the doubles point, taking courts two and three to claim the early 1-0 lead. Lady Vol seniors No. 27 Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso earned a swift 6-1 decision to give Tennessee the set advantage.

The Tennessee tandem of Maeve Thornton and Katrina Scott followed, carding a 6-3 set win on court three to seal the doubles point. The two earned a break to take a 3-1 and then 4-1 advantage and would hold on to give Tennessee the lead in the dual.

In singles play, Tennessee started strong, winning five first sets. No. 29 Katrina Scott, manning court one for the Lady Vols, would be the first to finish her singles match, downing the Rebels' No. 18 Emily Welker in dominant 6-0, 6-2 fashion. Despite Welker landing 73 percent of her first serves, Scott managed to win over half of her return points (55 percent).

Tennessee's now-two-point lead was short lived, as Ole Miss' Riley Crowder soon after logged a 6-4, 6-3 win on court four to put the Rebels on the board.

Britez Risso, whom Tennessee honored in a senior night celebration before the match, jumped to claim a dominant 6-1 first frame. Mississippi's Alice Soulie countered, going up a break, 3-1, to start the second set. The Lady Vol battled, eventually tying the frame at three games apiece, before holding serve to a 5-5 tally. Britez Risso broke and held for a 7-5 final score, taking a straight sets win to cap her senior night action. With her win, she improved to a 15-1 record in singles matches this dual season.

"It was a really emotional day, I knew it was going to be emotional," Britez Risso said. "But, I was able to play through it, because I wanted to do it for my teammates and for my coaches."

Tennessee's Maeve Thornton, on court six, sealed the win with a 6-3, 6-3 final score. Thornton, a Knoxville native, 70 percent of her serve points, as she attacked the net and stifled her opponent. She won each of the last three games, including a break, to seal the second set and put the Lady Vol victory on ice.

NEXT UP:
Tennessee will host the No. 12 LSU Tigers on Saturday at Noon to conclude the regular season. Two more seniors, Catherine Aulia and Vanesa Suarez, will be honored ahead of the match.