University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
VCU
McGiffin’s Dominant Day Pushes Lady Vols to NCAA First Round Win Over VCU
May 07, 2022 | Women's Tennis
RALEIGH, N.C. — Using a strong doubles performance and quick singles winners to build momentum, the Tennessee women's tennis team advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Championship with a 4-1 win over VCU, Saturday morning at J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center.
"There were no surprises for us in today's match, with a tournament format of win-or-go-home, we knew that VCU would come out swinging and that's exactly what they did," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "VCU fought start to finish and made us earn today's victory. We came here to win this region and because of today's performance, we've given ourselves the chance to do that tomorrow. We'll be ready to compete against whoever is on the other side of the net."
The Lady Vols (16-9) struck first, winning the doubles point with victories on Court 2 and 3. Elza Tomase and Tenika McGiffin wasted no time in getting a win, owning the match from start to finish against VCU's Paola Diaz-Delgado and Laura Astudillo and securing a 6-0 victory. With one in the books, both the other courts were closing in on victory, it was Daria Kuczer and Eleonora Molinaro who got the clinch though, closing out a 6-4 victory on 3 to earn Tennessee the doubles point.
McGiffin's singles match was all her from the first serve. The SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year dominated the first set, 6-0 and put away her Ram opponent in the second, 6-2, to secure UT's first singles win of the morning and make it 2-0.
Esther Adeshina then backed up McGiffin's victory with a convincing victory herself on Court 5. Adeshina, rebounding from her last singles match, moved VCU's Anja Draskovic side to side and attacked the net with conviction to give herself opportunities to attack. She capitalized all match long, winning 6-2, 6-1.
Molinaro, keeping up her recent strong stretch of play, finished off the match with a clinch on Court 6. She won the first set, 6-3, and jumped out to an early lead in the second. Shivani Manjanna, keeping with the fight of the A-10 Champions, never gave up in the match, pushing the set to a tiebreaker game. Molinaro kept her composure, finishing the job with a 7-2 game win to take the set, and the match, 7-6.
VCU (18-7) earned a singles win on Court 3 as Nina Sorkin claimed a 6-3, 7-6(5) decision. It marked the final match of Sorkin's collegiate career as she went 12-1 in her final year.
Full match results can be found below.
UP NEXT
Tennessee faces sixth-seeded NC State in the Second Round of the NCAA tournament. The match will be played at 2 p.m. at J.W. Isenhour Tennis Center and can be viewed on the TennisONE app.
MAKE IT 99
Alison Ojeda earned her 99th victory as head coach of the Lady Volunteers Saturday. She will go for her 100th win tomorrow and is seeking to become the third head coach in program history to hit the century mark.
GETTING HOT
Tenika McGiffin earned her fifth consecutive doubles victory, matching a career high. It is also her longest win streak of the year in doubles.
KEEP ON WINNIN'
Eleonora Molinaro picked up her 25th career singles victory and her 15th dual win of the season. She now leads the team in dual singles victories in 2022.
#22 Tennessee 4, #60 VCU 1
Singles
1. #29 Rebeka Mertena (TENN) vs. #96 Paola Diaz-Delgado (VCU) 6-4, 3-6, 1-1, unfinished
2. #73 Tenika McGiffin (TENN) def. Yelizaveta Karlova (VCU) 6-0, 6-2
3. Nina Sorkin (VCU) def. Elza Tomase (TENN) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
4. Daria Kuczer (TENN) vs. Gabriela Davidescu (VCU) 6-4, 1-6, 4-2, unfinished
5. Esther Adeshina (TENN) def. Anja Draskovic (VCU) 6-2, 6-1
6. Eleonora Molinaro (TENN) def. Shivani Manjanna (VCU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-2)
Order of Finish: 2,5,3,6
Doubles
1. #41 Esther Adeshina/Rebeka Mertena (TENN) def. Gabriela Davidescu/Shivani Manjanna (VCU) 5-4
2. Elza Tomase/Tenika McGiffin (TENN) def. Paola Diaz-Delgado/Laura Astudillo (VCU) 6-0
3. Daria Kuczer/Eleonora Molinaro (TENN) def. Nina Sorkin/Yelizaveta Karlova (VCU) 6-4
Order of Finish: 2,3
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
2,5,3,6
Players Mentioned
