#6 Tennessee Stalls #25 South Carolina, 4-1, Tomase Earns 90th Career Singles Win

Friday, March 7

Knoxville, Tenn.

12 p.m.

University of Tennessee

#25 South Carolina

#6 Tennessee Stalls #25 South Carolina, 4-1, Tomase Earns 90th Career Singles Win

March 07, 2025 | Women's Tennis

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Senior Elza Tomase earned her 90th career singles victory as the sixth-ranked Tennessee women's tennis team defeated No. 25 South Carolina in a 4-1 triumph. Tomase is the 15th player in program history to reach the 90-win mark.

"South Carolina is very good; they just came off of a fantastic win against Auburn," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "They are a heck of a team that fights for every single point. I thought our doubles teams did an outstanding job. Going into singles, Elza had a huge win against Sarah Hamner. Hamner is fantastic. To Elza's credit, she played very disciplined tennis. Elza has had an outstanding career at Tennessee and I am very proud of her. "

Tennessee (9-2, 3-1 SEC) got off to a hot start, grabbing a 1-0 advantage with back-to-back doubles wins against South Carolina (7-5, 2-2 SEC). The pairing of Tomase and Maeve Thornton landed their first win together, taking down the No. 36-ranked duo of Sarah Hamner and Kaitlyn Carnicella, 6-0. The freshmen tandem of Conley Raidt and Saray Yli-Piipari edged Helena Buchwald and Misa Malkin in a 6-3 affair. The No. 52-ranked duo of Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso were mounting a comeback against Bella Larsson and Olympe Lancelot, 3-5 when play halted.

"All three of our doubles courts came out with so much energy," Thornton shared. It was our first SEC match at home, so we wanted to take advantage of that. Elza Tomase and I clicked together and played very well. Kudos to Conley Raidt and Saray Yli-Piipari as well. Everyone fought so hard."

In singles, the Big Orange found its groove and never looked back. No. 8 Tomase filed her 90th singles career victory against No. 19 Sarah Hamner, 6-3, 7-5, to put UT up by two. No. 103 Britez Risso posted a 7-6(2), 6-2 decision over Lancelot. Thornton added the final point from a 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 triumph over Larsson.

"It is a big honor to be beside all of the outstanding former Lady Vols that came before me," Tomase said. "It means a lot, but this team means more to me. I am really happy that we got this win today and I am really proud of everyone."

Francesca Mattioli was the lone Lady Vol to drop a contest, falling to No. 93 Misa Malkin, 5-7, 4-6.

Up Next: Tennessee will hit the road to face top-ranked Georgia on Sunday. The match is slated for 1 p.m. at Dan MaGill Tennis Complex.

Match Notables:

The win marked the 797th victory for the Tennessee women's tennis program.
Head coach Alison Ojeda now owns 152 victories during her tenure and is the third-winningest coach in program history.
Ojeda also tallied her 197th career win, moving her just three shy of 200 victories.
Tennessee collected its 39th victory against the Gamecocks, improving its all-time record to 39-24.
The Lady Vols earned the doubles point for the eighth time this season.
The Big Orange have knocked off six ranked opponents thus far, defeating No. 15 Texas Tech, No. 15 Pepperdine, No.4 Stanford, No. 67 Kentucky, No. 71 Ole Miss and No. 25 South Carolina.
Conley Raidt and Saray Yli-Piipari earned their second win together in doubles, remaining flawless on the season.