University of Tennessee Athletics
Thursday, March 12
Auburn, Ala.
4 p.m. ET
University of Tennessee
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Auburn
#11 Lady Vols Fall Short at #3 Auburn
March 12, 2026 | Women's Tennis
AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 11 University of Tennessee women's tennis team (8-3, 4-2) dropped a 4-1 decision on the road against the No. 3 Auburn Tigers (22-1, 6-0) Thursday evening at the Yarbrough Tennis Center in Auburn, Ala.
"When you play against one of the best teams in the country, a couple of things tend to happen," Tennessee head coach Alison Ojeda said. "One, players will rise to the occasion and perform in a way that allows them to gain confidence, win or lose. And two, great opponents will exploit areas that allow us to see where we need to improve.
"Both of those things happened in the match today, so we are walking away a better team than we were this morning," Ojeda continued. "I'm excited to get back on court tomorrow so we can practice a couple of things prior to competing Saturday."
The Lady Vols opened doubles play by securing early break points on courts one and three. On the latter, Tennessee's Katrina Scott and Maeve Thornton combined for a 7-5 victory over the Tigers' No. 79 Bowers/Khairutdinova duo for their first ranked victory as a pairing.
On court one, the Lady Vol tandem of Francesca Mattioli and Vanesa Suarez jumped to an early 3-1 lead, but ultimately faced a tiebreak game at six-all. They fell to Auburn's No. 14 Bennett/Esposito via a 5-7 decision in the tiebreak game, as the Tiger tandem narrowly retained its undefeated start to the dual slate.
Auburn would pick up each of the next two dual points, with No. 27 Ashton Bowers taking a swift 6-1, 6-1 decision from No. 105 Mattioli on court five and Merna Refaat taking a 7-5, 6-2 final over Tennessee's No. 74 Catherine Aulia on court four.
Facing a 0-3 deficit, Tennessee Freshman Katrina Scott would hand the Lady Vols their first point of the day, defeating Auburn's No. 33 DJ Bennett by a 6-3, 7-6 (1) tally. The ranked win marked Scott's second such victory in as many matches.
The remaining three courts would all go to third sets, as Tennessee's Vanesa Suarez on court two and No. 20 Leyla Britez Risso on court three claimed their first sets, while Audrey Aulia claimed her second set on court six. In the end, Audrey Aulia fell to No. 119 Alice Battesti to seal the 4-1 final for the Tigers. Suarez and Britez Risso's matches were left unfinished.
The Lady Vols return to action Saturday morning, as they take on the #23 Florida Gators in Gainesville, Fla. First serve is slated for 11:30 a.m.
"When you play against one of the best teams in the country, a couple of things tend to happen," Tennessee head coach Alison Ojeda said. "One, players will rise to the occasion and perform in a way that allows them to gain confidence, win or lose. And two, great opponents will exploit areas that allow us to see where we need to improve.
"Both of those things happened in the match today, so we are walking away a better team than we were this morning," Ojeda continued. "I'm excited to get back on court tomorrow so we can practice a couple of things prior to competing Saturday."
The Lady Vols opened doubles play by securing early break points on courts one and three. On the latter, Tennessee's Katrina Scott and Maeve Thornton combined for a 7-5 victory over the Tigers' No. 79 Bowers/Khairutdinova duo for their first ranked victory as a pairing.
On court one, the Lady Vol tandem of Francesca Mattioli and Vanesa Suarez jumped to an early 3-1 lead, but ultimately faced a tiebreak game at six-all. They fell to Auburn's No. 14 Bennett/Esposito via a 5-7 decision in the tiebreak game, as the Tiger tandem narrowly retained its undefeated start to the dual slate.
Auburn would pick up each of the next two dual points, with No. 27 Ashton Bowers taking a swift 6-1, 6-1 decision from No. 105 Mattioli on court five and Merna Refaat taking a 7-5, 6-2 final over Tennessee's No. 74 Catherine Aulia on court four.
Facing a 0-3 deficit, Tennessee Freshman Katrina Scott would hand the Lady Vols their first point of the day, defeating Auburn's No. 33 DJ Bennett by a 6-3, 7-6 (1) tally. The ranked win marked Scott's second such victory in as many matches.
The remaining three courts would all go to third sets, as Tennessee's Vanesa Suarez on court two and No. 20 Leyla Britez Risso on court three claimed their first sets, while Audrey Aulia claimed her second set on court six. In the end, Audrey Aulia fell to No. 119 Alice Battesti to seal the 4-1 final for the Tigers. Suarez and Britez Risso's matches were left unfinished.
The Lady Vols return to action Saturday morning, as they take on the #23 Florida Gators in Gainesville, Fla. First serve is slated for 11:30 a.m.
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Tennis
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