No. 29 Lady Vols Defeat Purdue, 7-0

Saturday, February 23

Knoxville, Tenn.

11:00 AM

University of Tennessee

Purdue

Photo by: Amanda Pruitt/Tennessee Athletics

February 23, 2019 | Women's Tennis

Photo Gallery Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The 29^th-ranked Tennessee women's tennis team started the weekend with a win Saturday afternoon at Goodfriend Tennis Center, defeating Purdue, 7-0.

"Something on every single court stuck out to me today," Tennessee head coach Alison Ojeda said. "The girls did an awesome job getting the doubles point under their belt and going out into singles, the goal was for everyone to fight as if the match was coming down to them.

"They're a really good team that is coached well and fights hard, so it very well could have been a 4-3 match."

For the eighth time in nine matches this season, Tennessee (7-2) won the doubles point.

SEC Co-Freshman of the Week Maia Haumuller and Tenika McGiffin won their fifth doubles match in a row, registering a 6-1 win over Purdue's Caitlin Calkins and Seira Shimizu.

Rebeka Mertena and Johanna Silva clinched the match at the No. 3 doubles spot with a 6-2 victory over Zala Dovnik and Ena Babic.

In singles, Mertena got the match started with a win for the Lady Vols at the No. 4 singles spot, defeating Amina Mukhametshina, 6-2, 2-0. Haumuller, another freshman, secured the next win for Tennessee on Court 6 with a 6-0, 7-5 win over Zala Dovnik.

The other four singles matches all went to three sets, with Tennessee winning all four of them.

Sadie Hammond clinched the match for Tennessee at the No. 1 singles spot with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over 17^th-ranked Silvia Ambrosio. The win is Hammond's first win over a ranked opponent this season.

Kaitlin Staines followed on Court 2 with a 7-6, 2-6, 6-3 win over Ena Babic. Silva, the ITA's No. 121 ranked singles player, defeated Seira Shimizu at the No. 3 spot, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2.

Silva has now won 18 of her past 20 singles matches and has posted a 7-2 dual match mark.

McGiffin closed out the match for the Lady Vols, defeating Zala Dovnik in three sets, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Up Next: Tennessee is back at Goodfriend Tennis Center on Sunday for a doubleheader against UT Martin (11 a.m.) and ETSU (3 p.m.).

QUOTES

Sadie Hammond

On defeating 17^th-ranked Silvia Ambrosio:
"I actually didn't know that she was ranked until after the match when Ty [Schaub] came up and told me. But I think this week I put a lot more pressure on myself than I did last week. Last week going into the South Florida match, I felt like my focus was too much on that and getting that win rather than playing and doing the things that I needed to do. So today, I wanted to focus on the process and focus on the things I do well and execute."

Kaitlin Staines

On battling back to win her singles match:
"I was down 4-1 in the first set, but at the same time, I felt like I had so many chances in the first set that I could have easily been up 4-1. I think just staying mentally tough and just keep digging helped me get through it."

RESULTS
No. 29 Tennessee 7, Purdue 0

Singles
1. Sadie Hammond (UT) def. #17 Silvia Ambrosio (PUR), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
2. Kaitlin Staines (UT) def. Ena Babic (PUR), 7-6, 2-6, 6-3
3. #121 Johanna Silva def. (UT) Seira Shimizu (PUR), 6-1, 5-7, 6-2
4. Rebeka Mertena (UT) def. Amina Mukhametshina (PUR), 6-2, 6-0
5. Tenika McGiffin (UT) def. Caitlin Calkins (PUR), 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
6. Maia Haumuller (UT) def. Zala Dovnik (PUR), 6-0, 7-5

Doubles
1. #9 Hammond/Staines (UT) vs. Ambrosio/Mukhametshina (PUR), 5-3, unfinished
2. Haumuller/McGiffin (UT) def. Calkins/Shimizu (PUR), 6-1
3. Silva/Mertena (UT) def. Dovnik/Babic (PUR), 6-2

Order of finish: Doubles (2, 3); Singles (4, 6, 1, 2, 3, 5)