#14 Lady Vols Top #15 Virginia, 4-2, in Consolation match at ITA National Team Indoor Championships

Saturday, February 7

Evanston, Ill.

10 a.m. ET

University of Tennessee

Virginia

#14 Lady Vols Top #15 Virginia, 4-2, in Consolation match at ITA National Team Indoor Championships

February 07, 2026 | Women's Tennis

CHICAGO - The University of Tennessee women's tennis team defeated Virginia in a consolation matchup Friday at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Evanston, Ill.

The No. 14 Lady Vols (3-1) claimed singles wins on the top four courts to best the No. 15 Cavaliers (6-4) by a score of 4-2.

In doubles play, The Lady Vols couldn't gather any momentum, dropping sets on courts one and three by 6-1 and 6-0 scores, respectively. The lackluster doubles showing didn't hinder the Lady Vols, who responded by claiming five first sets to open singles play.

"I'm really proud of our team's ability to refocus prior to singles and allow ourselves to compete freely in big moments." Tennessee head coach Alison Ojeda said. "Virginia is a great team who pushed us hard. We earned the win and that's always a good feeling leaving the courts."

Lady Vol senior Vanesa Suarez evened the dual at a point apiece with a strong performance on court one, defeating Virginia's Vivian Yang, 6-3, 6-2. She managed a break in the third game, winning every point in the game, and held serve before earning another break to win her sixth game. In the second set, the two traded breaks to open at 1-1 before Suarez ran to a 4-1 advantage and held serve to win. Suarez lost just one of her service games in the match.

Virginia's Katie Rolls would be next off the court, defeating Tennessee's Elim Yan, 6-3, 6-3, to give Virginia a 2-1 lead in the dual.

Tennessee sophomore Francesca Mattioli was the fifth Lady Vol to win her first set but would be just the second to win her match, taking the win on court four. After a 7-6 (3) tiebreak win of set one, which featured five consecutive breaks to reach 6-6, she rode momentum to a dominant 6-1 showing in the second set. She won each of the last six games to win the second frame.

"Francesca has worked hard to understand how to be a better competitor and today she really improved in this category," Ojeda said. "Our team is proud of her!"

With the dual leveled again at two apiece, Catherine Aulia stepped up to hand the Lady Vols their first lead of the day. After a 6-4 first set, she stumbled to a 3-6 loss of the second set by losing four consecutive games to surrender her lead. She and Virginia's Isabelle Lacy held serve to a 3-3 score in the final stanza before she rattled off two breaks to win 6-3, sealing court three for the eventual victors.

Senior Leyla Britez Risso delivered the decisive point on court two. Despite cruising to a quick 6-1 win of the first set, the Cavaliers' Annabelle Xu would respond with a 6-3 win of the second set to force a final frame. The two traded breaks for four straight games to draw even at 4-4. The Lady Vol stabilized, holding serve to lead 5-4, and sealed the match and the dual with a break point to win 6-4.

"Big shout-out to our three seniors," Ojeda said of Aulia, Britez Risso and Suarez. "For the three of them to go get wins on courts one, two and three says a lot about their experience as competitors."

"Virginia is a really good team, so today was such a good team win," Catherine Aulia said of the match. "They played a really good doubles point, so it was great to see everyone reset and just go out and play their tennis and really take it to them.

"We fought super hard towards the end, as usual, so I'm really proud of everyone being able to bounce back after yesterday."

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 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.