#7 Lady Vols Trounce #71 Razorbacks, 4-0

Sunday, March 8

Knoxville, Tenn.

1 p.m. ET

University of Tennessee

Arkansas

March 08, 2026 | Women's Tennis

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 7 University of Tennessee women's tennis team (8-2, 4-1) finished its homestand with a 4-0 victory over the No. 71 Arkansas Razorbacks (10-5, 1-4) on Sunday afternoon.

"Today, I saw our players lean on each other," Tennessee head coach Alison Ojeda said. "We had a good, energetic practice yesterday … and then we came out here today and took care of business."

The Lady Vols opened the afternoon with a win of the doubles point, taking courts two and three. On the latter, Tennessee's Leyla Britez Risso and Maeve Thornton claimed a break to open the set and, after holding serve to a 3-2 score, the duo won three straight games to seal the decision, 6-2.

On court two, the tandem of Catherine Aulia and Katrina Scott earned a break in the fifth game and went on to lead 4-2, but Arkansas' Shafer/Jimena Gomez Alonso duo battled back and put the Lady Vols at a 4-5 deficit. Aulia and Scott faced match point in the 10th game, but managed take the next three games and win the set, 7-5.

"We both have a lot of trust in each other," the freshman Scott said of her doubles partner. "She's someone that I really look up to on this team and she's such an amazing teammate.

"[Catherine] could tell how down I was on myself," Scott added, "but when we step on the court and she says, 'we're serving to the "T" and you're going to stand here,' I have full trust in her and that she knows exactly what she's doing, and I'm going to follow her in whatever she wants to do."

Shortly after the start of singles play, the match was moved indoors due to rain. The Lady Vols pounced to five first set wins, including one by a 6-0 margin and three 6-1 tallies.

Britez Risso was the first competitor off the court in singles for Tennessee. She delivered a stellar 6-1, 6-0 showing on court three to give the Lady Vols a 2-0 lead. After earning a break and going up 3-1 in the first stanza, the senior won the next nine games to finish the lopsided decision. Her opponent reached the 30-mark just four times in the nine-game stretch and the 40-mark just twice. With her win, Britez Risso improved to 12-0 in singles in 2026, including 9-0 this dual season.

Vanesa Suarez registered an identical score, 6-1, 6-0, on court two to give Tennessee a commanding 3-0 advantage in the dual. After holding serve in the first two games, Suarez would win the next 11 games to close out the near-perfect match. Suarez won more than half of her opponent's first-serve points (12-of-23, 52 percent).

Scott tallied a 6-0, 6-3 decision on court one to seal the victory for the Big Orange. Scott landed an impressive 74 percent (26-of-35) of her first serves in her first singles win in front of her home crowd. Her opponent, No. 23 Carolina Gomez Alonso, won just four of her 26 first serve points as the Lady Vol freshman dominated her way to her first ranked singles win.

Tennessee's Catherine Aulia and Francesca Mattioli held respective leads of 6-3, 3-3 and 6-1, 4-1 before play was suspended.

Tennessee will return to action March 12, as it travels to Auburn, Ala., to face the No. 5 Tigers. The Lady Vols will then head south to Gainesville, Fla., for a matchup with the No. 23 Gators on March 14.