Texas Tech Athletics
Tennessee
Lady Raiders fall in hard-fought match to No. 18 Tennessee
January 24, 2025 | Women's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – In a match that saw three third sets and four tiebreakers, the Texas Tech Lady Raiders fell after almost three hours of fighting to the No. 18-ranked Tennessee Lady Vols, 4-0, on Friday evening at the Goodfriend Tennis Center.
Tennessee (3-0) was able to get the doubles point pretty quickly – taking the matches on court one, 6-1, and on court three, 6-2, for the early lead. While doubles was pretty dominant for the Lady Vols, singles was not. The Lady Raiders (2-1) fought tooth and nail against four ranked players and took three singles matches to third sets.
Tennessee added to its lead after No. 10 Elza Tomase defeated Avelina Sayfetdinova at court one by a 6-3, 6-2 score. At court five, Hailey Murphy and No. 106-ranked Leyla Britez Risso were in a tight match. The Lady Vol won the first set by a 6-3 score. Then, Murphy forced a tiebreaker in set two, but fell to Risso, 7-6 (1), in the set as Tennessee went ahead 3-0.
Tennessee clinched the match at court two, but it wasn't easy. Mariia Hlahola and No. 19 Catherine Aulia were battling it out in all three sets. The Lady Raider and Lady Vol tied the first set at 3-3 before Hlahola won the next three games for a 6-3 first set. Then, Aulia reversed the momentum in her favor to take set two, 6-2, and even the match. Aulia then led 4-3 in the final set and won the next two games to give Tennessee the match.
When the match was called, Yekaterina Dmitrichenko and Maeve Thornton were in a third set. Dmitrichenko won a gritty first set breaker in a back-and-forth affair, 7-6 (6), but fell in set two, 6-0. The Lady Vol held a 3-1 lead when it went unfinished. At court four, Andreea Lila was tied with No. 54-ranked Vanesa Suarez, 5-5, in the second set when it went unfinished, saving match point to tie it at 5-all. In set one, Suarez narrowly won the first set in a 7-6 (7) tiebreaker. Freshman Elena Daskalova was on her way to a come-from-behind victory against Elim Yan at court six. The Lady Vol won set one by a 7-6 (3) score, before Daskalova earned a 6-3 set two win. Daskalova had a 3-1 advantage in set three when the match finished.
Up next, the Lady Raiders have another tough match as they face the No. 10-ranked NC State Wolfpack on Saturday, January 25 at 5 p.m. CT in Knoxville.
RESULTS
Texas Tech 0, #18 Tennessee 4
Singles
1. #10 Elza Tomase (TENN) def. Avelina Sayfetdinova (TTU) 6-3, 6-2
2. #19 Catherine Aulia (TENN) def. Mariia Hlahola (TTU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
3. Maeve Thornton (TENN) vs. Yekaterina Dmitrichenko (TTU) 6-7 (6-8), 6-0, 3-1, unfinished
4. #54 Vanesa Suarez (TENN) vs. Andreea Lila (TTU) 7-6 (9-7), 5-5, unfinished
5. #106 Leyla Britez Risso (TENN) def. Hailey Murphy (TTU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-1)
6. Elim Yan (TENN) vs. Elena Daskalova (TTU) 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 1-3, unfinished
Doubles
1. Elza Tomase/Elim Yan (TENN) def. #15 Avelina Sayfetdinova/Mariia Hlahola (TTU) 6-1
2. Catherine Aulia/Leyla Britez Risso (TENN) vs. Yekaterina Dmitrichenko/Hailey Murphy (TTU) 4-3, unfinished
3. Maeve Thornton/Vanesa Suarez (TENN) def. #33 Andreea Lila/Jermine Sherif (TTU) 6-2
Order of finish
Doubles (1, 3); Singles (1, 5, 2)
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
1,5,2
Players Mentioned
