Tennessee Women's Tennis Year-by-Year Archive
2025Â Season
Record:Â 20-8
SEC Finish:Â 10-5
Postseason:Â NCAA Elite Eight
Coach: Alison Ojeda (Ninth Season)
Ninth-year head coach Alison Ojeda continued to guide the Lady Vols to new heights as the team reached the NCAA Quarterfinals for the second year in a row. The Lady Vols achieved a 20-8 record (10-5 SEC), reaching 10 or more SEC victories for only the second time in the Ojeda era. The Lady Vols have now produced three straight seasons of at least 20 victories, which marks the first three-year occurrence since the 2001, 2002 and 2003 seasons.
The 2025 team triumphed over 15 ranked opponents, including six in the top 25, including six over top-15 teams. The Big Orange swept its first three opponents (Elon, No. 26 Pepperdine and No. 7 Virginia) 4-0, in the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history. The Big Orange concluded the season at No. 9 in the final ITA poll, the highest end-of-year ranking since 2001.
The duo of Elza Tomase and Catherine Aulia garnered First Team All-SEC selections. Maeve Thornton and Catherine Aulia were also CSC All-Academic honorees.
2024Â Season
Record:Â 22-8
SEC Finish:Â 9-4
Postseason:Â NCAA Final Four (Second time in program history, 2002)
Coach: Alison Ojeda (Eighth Season)
The women’s tennis program achieved remarkable success under the direction of eighth-year head coach Alison Ojeda, as the team embarked on one of the most monumental seasons in program history. The Lady Vols achieved a 22-8 record (9-4 SEC), reaching the highest number of victories during the Ojeda era, for the second consecutive year. The Lady Vols have now produced back-to-back seasons of at least 21 victories for the first time since 2002-03. It's the winningest two-year stretch for the program since those two years.Â
The 2024 team triumphed over 12 ranked opponents, including seven in the top 25, notably snapping No. 1 Oklahoma State’s 29-match winning streak. The Big Orange clinched a 4-2 win, propelling them to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time since 2010. Furthermore, they secured a 4-3 victory against No. 8 UCLA, earning a spot in the Final Four for only the second time in program history. Tennessee was the lowest seed to ever reach the semifinals since the berth of the 64-team era in 1999.
Ojeda was named the National ITA Wilson Coach of the Year and the ITA Ohio Valley Region Coach of the Year, first-year associate head coach Matias Marin was selected as the ITA Ohio Valley Region Assistant Coach of the Year, while Sofia Cabezas and Elza Tomase earned ITA All-American honors. The trio of Cabezas, Tomase and Catherine Aulia garnered All-SEC selections. Esther Adeshina earned the 2024 ITA Ann Lebedeff Leadership Award.
2023Â Season
Record:Â 21-6
SEC Finish:Â 11-2Â
Postseason:Â NCAA Round of 16
Coach: Alison Ojeda (Seventh Season)
Head Coach Alison Ojeda led the Lady Volunteers to heights never seen before in 2023. The Lady Vols finished 11-2 in SEC play, the highest SEC win total in program history, and tallied double-digit conference victories for just the second time ever. Tennessee went unbeaten at home, turning in an 11-0 record on Rocky Top. That milestone marks just the fifth time in program history Tennessee has finished the regular season undefeated at home, with two of those coming in the Alison Ojeda Era.
Head coach Alison Ojeda was named SEC Co-Head Coach of the Year while Daria Kuczer, Rebeka Mertena and Elza Tomase were named First Team All-SEC in the end-of-season awards. Mertena was a staple on the All-SEC teams, making it on the charts in each of the last three seasons. She becomes the ninth player in program history to be recognized three times on the All-SEC Teams, having earned second-team honors in 2021 and first-team acclaim in 2022. Currently, she ranks tied for seventh in program history for career singles victories with 103. In her final season on Rocky Top, the fifth-year senior went 13-4 during dual competition while boasting a perfect 5-0 SEC record at No. 2. She has stayed inside the top 35 for the majority of the spring in the ITA Singles Rankings and has more than 20 total singles wins for the fourth time in her illustrious career.
2022Â Season
Record:Â 16-10Tennessee wrapped up another successful season under sixth-year head coach Alison Ojeda which saw the Lady Volunteers climb as high as No. 16 in the ITA Team Rankings. Tenika McGiffin, Rebeka Mertena and Elza Tomase stayed in the ITA Singles rankings throughout the spring and five Lady Vol doubles pairings also spent multiple weeks on the doubles charts.
McGiffin's final season on Rocky Top resulted in incredible success both on the court and in the postseason awards. She was named just the second SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year in program history, along with being a First Team All-SEC honoree and a CoSIDA Academic All American. Rebeka Mertena also had a stellar season, earning eight ranked singles wins and coming on strong in doubles late in the season with Esther Adeshina. Elza Tomase turned heads as a freshman, earning ITA Ohio Valley Freshman of the Year honors and leading the Big Orange in both singles and doubles victories.
2021Â Season
Record:Â 17-9
SEC Finish:Â 8-5
Postseason: NCAA 2nd Round
Coach: Alison Ojeda (Fifth Season)
Under the direction of fifth-year head coach Alison Ojeda, the Tennessee women’s tennis team closed out the season with a 17-9, 8-5 SEC record. Ojeda’s Lady Vols earned their fourth-straight postseason appearance and posted a perfect 11-0 ledger at home - marking the fourth time in program history that the Lady Vols have gone undefeated at home in a full season. The Lady Vols concluded the season ranked 18th nationally, their highest year-end ranking under Ojeda.Â
Â
Individually, senior Johanna Silva capped a stellar collegiate career, leaving UT with 88 career solo wins to place her 14th all-time on the Lady Vols singles career win list. Juniors Daria Kuczer and Rebeka Mertena earned Second Team All-SEC Honors and sophomore Carly Briggs was named to the SEC All-Newcomer Team. Kuczer, in her first year as a Lady Vol, lead the team in solo wins (26) and compiled impressive marks in dual match play (20-3) and SEC contests (10-1). Â
2020Â Season
Record:Â 10-3*
SEC Finish:Â 1-2Â (N/A)*
Postseason:Â N/A
Coach: Alison Ojeda (Fourth Season)
*NOTE: The 2020 season was canceled after 13 matches due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) global health crisis.
The 2019-2020 season saw the Lady Vols go 10-3, 1-2 SEC before competition was cut short due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) global health crisis.  Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Alison Ojeda, the Vols went a perfect 6-0 at home and were ranked as high as No. 20 in the nation following a productive fall and 3-1 start in the month of January.Â
Â
The Fall was highlighted by an all Lady Vol final at the ITA Ohio Valley Regional. No. 89-ranked junior Kaitlin Staines defeated No. 120-ranked sophomore Rebeka Mertena in straight sets to claim the regional, both would go on to the ITA Fall National Championships. The week before, the No. 13-ranked duo of Staines and Tenika McGiffin placed second at ITA All-Americans to earn a bid to the ITA Fall National Championships.Â
Â
Individually, the spring season saw the rise sophomore Rebeka Mertena and freshman Carly Briggs. In singles play, Mertena was ranked as high as 38th nationally, posting an 8-1 singles mark in dual-match play and was undefeated at home during her sophomore campaign. She opened the spring earning SEC Player of the Week honors following her 4-0 start to dual-match play. Briggs was also undefeated at home in singles play, ranking as high as 100th nationally in her debut season with a 10-2 record in dual matches. The freshman was named the SEC Freshman of the Week after going undefeated against Purdue and Indiana.Â
2019 Season
Record: 20-8
SEC Finish: 9-4 (4th)
Postseason: NCAA 2nd Round
Coach: Alison Ojeda (Third Season)
Ojeda’s third season saw the Tennessee women’s tennis program continue to make immense strides on the court, recording the best regular season win total since the 2003 season and making the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season. Under the direction of Ojeda, the Lady Vols claimed their best SEC finish since 2013 and nine conference victories — the most since 2011. At home, Tennessee posted a 14-3 record, marking the most the most home wins for the program in a single season since 1992. The Lady Vols also set a program record in shutouts with 11.
Individually, freshman Rebeka Mertena led the Lady Vols in singles wins (18) after arriving to Tennessee just before the start of the season in January. Senior Sadie Hammond and sophomore Kaitlin Staines burst onto the national scene in doubles, ascending as high as No. 6 in the nation in the ITA’s doubles rankings. Hammond and Staines were named All-Americans in doubles for their performances. Mertena and Hammond also earned All-SEC honors, named to the All-Freshman Team and Second Team All-SEC, respectively.
2018 Season
Record: 18-12
SEC Finish: 3-10 (12th)
Postseason: NCAA 1st Round
Coach: Alison Ojeda (Second Season)
In Ojeda's second season, the Lady Vols continued to show improvements on the courts, posting back-to-back seasons with 18 wins for the first time since 2010-11. Despite losing its top two players from 2017, UT claimed 12 consecutive victories to open the season, marking the best start in program history and its second longest winning streak ever. Along with the hot start, Tennessee recorded eight shutouts on the year, two short of tying the school record of 10.
En route to a second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, redshirt sophomore Gabby Schuck led the Lady Vols in wins in both singles (23) and doubles (24) in her best season on Rocky Top. Freshman Kaitlin Staines, who joined the team in January, had an incredible spring, finishing with 15 wins in both singles and doubles. She teamed up with Ariadna Riley at the top spot in doubles to tally three ranked wins, including a pair over top-50 opponents. The duo finished the season at 36th in the ITA rankings and had the sixth-best winning percentage (.833) of any doubles team in the SEC during the regular season.
2017 Season
Record: 19-12
SEC Finish: 4-9 (11th)
Postseason: NCAA 2nd Round
Coach: Alison Ojeda (First Season)
During Alison Ojeda's first season back on Rocky Top, the former All-American led the Volunteers to one of their most productive seasons in recent years. Tennessee had its most wins (19) and highest ITA ranking (12th) since 2011. The Big Orange also earned their first berth in the NCAA Championships since 2014, advancing to the second round.
Senior Brittany Lindl took her game to the next level and become the top player in the singles lineup, where she had seven ranked wins on the season. Lindl garnered second-team All-SEC honors, the ITA Ohio Valley Region's Most Improved Senior Award and a bid to the NCAA Singles Championships.
Improved on-court performance wasn't the only bright spot for Tennessee women's tennis this season, as Ojeda also emphasized community outreach in the Knoxville area, which earned Tennessee a share of its first-ever national ITA Community Service Award.
2016 Season
Record: 8-17
SEC Finish: 1-12 (13th)
Postseason: N/A
Coaches: Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick
The Tennessee women's tennis team missed out on the NCAA Championships for a second consecutive year as a team.
The team was led by freshman Sadie Hammond, who was selected second team All-SEC and named the Ohio Valley Regional Rookie of the Year. Hammond earned a bid to the NCAA Singles Championships, where she advanced to the second round.
2015 Season
Record: 11-15
SEC Finish: 3-10 (13th)
Postseason: N/A
Coaches: Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick
Injuries plagued Tennessee, costing them a bid to the NCAA Tournament and ending their 20-year streak.
The bright spot for the Vols was the top-25 ranked senior duo of Joanna Henderson and Caitlin Williams competing in the NCAA Doubles Championship.
2014 Season
Record: 13-13
SEC Finish: 6-7 (6th)
Postseason: NCAA 1st Round
Coaches: Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick
Tennessee advanced to its 20th consecutive NCAA Tournament and 24th overall.
Freshman Eve Repic was named the ITA Ohio Valley Region Rookie of the Year, to the All-SEC Second Team and SEC All-Freshman team in her first season on Rocky Top while also earning a spot in the NCAA Singles Championship.
2013 Season
Record: 13-12
SEC Finish: 7-6 (3rd East)
Postseason: NCAA 2nd Round
Coaches: Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick
Tennessee advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 19th straight season and 23rd overall and reached the Second Round of the tournament for the seventh straight season.
Kata Szekely and Brynn Boren, ranked in the top-5 in the country the entire spring season, earned All-American honors by advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championships.
2012 Season
Record: 15-13
SEC Finish: 4-7 (5th East)
Postseason: NCAA 2nd Round
Coaches: Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick
Tennessee opened the season 9-3 and reached No. 5 nationally for the first time since 2001 before injuries derailed a strong start.
Natalie Pluskota and Kata Szekely earned All-American honors by advanced to the semifinals of the NCAA Doubles Championships, and Pluskota also earned All-American status by advancing to the Round of 16 in singles.
2011 Season
Record: 20-8
SEC Finish: 9-2
Postseason: NCAA 2nd Round
Coaches: Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick
The Lady Vols advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before dropping a heartbreaker to Vanderbilt in Knoxville.
Co-head coaches Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick were named the ITA Ohio Valley Region's co-head coaches of the year for the second consecutive season, while Rosalia Alda (ITA Ohio Valley Region Senior Player of the Year, 1st team All-SEC), Brynn Boren (2nd team All-SEC, ITA OVR Rookie of the Year) and Natalie Pluskota (1st team All SEC) earned individual honors.
2010 Season
Record: 19-9
SEC Finish: 8-3; t-2nd
Postseason: NCAA Quarterfinals
Coaches: Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick
Tennessee reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament before losing to No. 5 Notre Dame.
Caitlin Whoriskey and Natalie Pluskota reached the finals of the NCAA Tournament, while Whoriskey also reached the round of 16 in singles and earned ITA National Senior Player of the Year and singles and doubles All-American honors.
2009 Season
Record: 18-7
SEC Finish: 8-3; t-2nd
Postseason: NCAA 2nd Round
Coaches: Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick
After finishing second in the SEC, the Lady Vols advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season.
Caitlin Whoriskey and Natalie Pluskota won the ITA All-America Doubles Championship and reached semifinals of NCAA Doubles Championships.
2008 Season
Record: 15-10
SEC Finish: 6-5; 4th
Postseason: NCAA 2nd Round
Coaches: Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick
Tennessee lost in second round at Georgia Tech. The Lady Vols finished the season 15-10, including a 6-5 record in SEC play, leading to a 24th-place finish in the ITA Rankings.
2007 Season
Record: 14-11
SEC Finish: 6-5; t-5th
Postseason: NCAA 2nd Round
Coaches: Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick
The Lady Vols bounced back with a strong year, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing at Vanderbilt.
Blakeley Griffith was named SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year for the second time in her career, earning All-SEC First Team singles honors and being selected to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America First Team.
2006 Season
Record: 12-13
SEC Finish: 6-5; 5th
Postseason: NCAA 1st Round
Coaches: Mike Patrick and Sonia Hahn-Patrick
Struggling through the season with an injury-depleted roster, Tennessee was eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament while posting an overall record of 12-13 finishing 32nd in the final ITA rankings.
Blakeley Griffith became an ITA Southeast Region Indoor Singles Champion, while earning ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America Third Team honors.
2005 Season
Record: 15-9
SEC Finish: 7-4; 4th
Postseason: t-17th NCAA
Coach: Mike Patrick (19th season)
With an overall record of 15-9 and a 7-4 league record, the Lady Vols finished fourth in the SEC and 18th in the final ITA rankings, while advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Blakeley Griffith was the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year and was named to ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District IV Second Team.
2004 Season
Record: 15-14
SEC Finish: 7-4; 4th
Postseason: t-9th NCAA
Coach: Mike Patrick (18th season)
Tennessee once again reached the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Vols finished 19th in the ITA rankings after boasting a 15-14 record and finishing fourth in the SEC.
Sabita Maharaj was named to the All-SEC First Team in singles
2003 Season
Record: 22-7
SEC Finish: 9-2; 2nd
Postseason: t-9th NCAA
Coach: Mike Patrick (17th season)
The Lady Vols returned to the Round of 16 before losing to Vanderbilt. Tennessee finished second in SEC with a 9-2 conference record, while going 22-7 overall and recording a 10th-place finish in final ITA rankings.
In her senior year Vilmarie Castellvi finished her career as the all-time singles wins record-holder with a 140-51 record. Castellvi reached the finals of the NCAA Singles Championships before falling to Amber Liu of Stanford. Her honors included: All-American in singles and doubles, SEC Player of the Year, ITA National Senior Player of the Year, Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Female Amateur Athlete of the Year and Honda Sports Award for Women's Tennis.
2002 Season
Record: 21-10
SEC Finish: 7-4; 5th
Postseason: t-3rd NCAA
Coach: Mike Patrick (16th season)
After finishing fourth in the SEC, Tennessee reached the final four for the first time in school history, defeating No. 4 Vanderbilt, 4-3, in the quarterfinals to get there. The Lady Vols finished with a 21-10 overall record and a 12th-place finish in the final ITA rankings.
Vilmarie Castellvi was an All-American in singles, as she reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA Singles Championships. Crystal Cleveland was All-SEC first team in singles.
2001 Season
Record: 25-4
SEC Finish: 10-1; 2nd
Postseason: t-9th NCAA
Coach: Mike Patrick (15th season)
The Lady Vols finished second in the SEC with a 10-1 conference record, while finishing with a 25-4 overall record. Tennessee reached the Round of 16 for the second consecutive season in the NCAA Tournament and placed sixth in the final ITA rankings.
Individually, Vilmarie Castellvi was named to the All-SEC first team. Crystal Cleveland and Alison Ojeda were All-SEC first team doubles selections. Ojeda was also a singles All-American and won the Southeast Region Arthur Ashe Jr. Leadership in Sportsmanship Award.
