#14 Lady Vols Best #8 Oklahoma State, 4-3, in Thriller at ITA National Team Indoors

Sunday, February 8

Evansville, Ill.

1 p.m. ET

University of Tennessee

Oklahoma State

#14 Lady Vols Best #8 Oklahoma State, 4-3, in Thriller at ITA National Team Indoors

February 08, 2026 | Women's Tennis

CHICAGO - The No. 14 University of Tennessee women's tennis team defeated the No. 8 Oklahoma State Cowgirls in a consolation matchup Sunday at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Evanston, Ill.

The Lady Vols (3-1) claimed the doubles point and singles wins on courts two, three and four to best the No. 8 Cowgirls (3-3) by a score of 4-3.

In doubles play, Tennessee delivered it's best performance of the weekend, claiming dominant set wins on courts one and three. Tennessee's senior duo of No. 15 Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso logged a 6-3 win on the top court and Vanesa Suarez and Francesca Mattioli followed suit on court two, claiming their set by the same tally. On court three, Maeve Thornton and Saray Yli-Piipari held a 5-2 edge, and were serving for match point before the point was clinched.

"Our team did an outstanding job today of starting and finishing doubles strong," Tennessee head coach Alison Ojeda said. "That's something we really wanted to focus on and I'm proud to say we were able to do that."

The Cowgirls, though, responded promptly in singles play by claiming first sets on four courts. The Lady Vols would claim the second point of the dual, however, as Francesca Mattioli earned the win on court four via retirement. Oklahoma State's Lucia Peyre took the first set on the court by a 6-1 margin before retiring due to injury.

Now in a 2-0 hole, the Cowgirls responded quickly, leveling the dual at two points apiece with wins on courts five and six. For Yli-Piipari, on court five, the setback was her first of the spring. Audrey Aulia, on court six for Tennessee, took the loss in the first collegiate action of her career.

The Cowgirls would then take the lead, as Olivia Lincer claimed victory on court one over Suarez. After a 6-2 win for Lincer in the first set, The two traded breaks thrice in the second, including a clutch break from Suarez while facing match point, to force a tiebreaker. Lincer stretched her lead to as many as three points, 6-3, in the tiebreak game and ultimately took the game, set and match with a 7-5 ledger in the tiebreaker.

Now facing their first deficit of the afternoon, down 2-3 in the dual, No. 87 Catherine Aulia and No. 32 Britez Risso each opened their final stanzas by picking up early breaks. Britez Risso, on court two, would not be denied, as she won five games in a row to hold a 5-1 edge over the Cowgirls' Anastacia Komar and would go on to win the final set 6-2.

With the dual now tied at 3-3, all eyes turned to court three, where Catherine Aulia had mustered a 5-2 advantage while court two was still active. However, Oklahoma State's Rose Marie Nijkamp proceeded to claw back into the match, winning the next three games. Aulia then managed a break, to go up 6-5, and held serve to deliver Tennessee it's first win of the season over a higher-ranked opponent.

"Going into singles, we knew we had a tough challenge ahead because Oklahoma State is so talented," Ojeda said. "Our girls were tough and understood how to tactically play in a way that gave us an advantage and also allow themselves to swing freely."

"I think we really got better overall as a team from this tournament and that's what we wanted to do coming in," Catherine Aulia said. "After the first day we knew we would have some really tough matches and good opponents so that really allowed us to continue to improve.

"I'm really proud of the whole team for fighting really hard and, most of all, having fun competing together."

Up Next
The Lady Vols return to action on Feb. 21, as they host the Kentucky Wildcats to open Southeastern Conference action.

ITA National Team Indoor Championship Information
ITA's in-season team championship features a 16-team bracket, comprised of the two host programs (Illinois and Northwestern) and the 14 victors to emerge from ITA's Kickoff Weekend sites. The first round, quarterfinals and consolation matches will be split between the sites in Champaign, Ill. and Evanston, Ill., before the semifinal and championship matches are held in Evanston.

The complete ITA National Team Indoor Bracket, competition schedule, as well as live stats and live broadcasts can be found on the ITA Tournament Homepage. Fans interested in attending the Team Indoor Championships can purchase tickets here.