The University of Tennessee women’s tennis team, ranked No. 9 nationally, will open its Southeastern Conference schedule on Saturday by hosting the Kentucky Wildcats. The Lady Vols enter the match with a 4-1 record, while Kentucky stands at 8-1 for the season.
Tennessee head coach Alison Ojeda commented on the upcoming conference competition: “In SEC play, everybody wants to win and everyone is capable of coming out and putting up a performance, on any given day, that would allow them to win. If you can embrace that kind of competition, you’re going to get better every time you step on the court.”
Recently, Tennessee competed in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships where they secured victories over then-No. 15 Virginia and No. 8 Oklahoma State after an initial loss to then-No. 5 LSU. Against Virginia, Tennessee earned singles wins on the top four courts for a 4-2 victory. In their match against Oklahoma State, they claimed the doubles point and singles wins on courts two, three and four to secure a narrow 4-3 win. Catherine Aulia clinched the match with a three-set victory on court three.
Following these performances, Tennessee moved up to No. 9 in this week’s ITA team rankings. Senior Leyla Britez Risso remains undefeated in singles for 2026 and rose to No. 25 in singles rankings. Senior Catherine Aulia advanced to No. 61 after her decisive match against Oklahoma State, while sophomore Francesca Mattioli entered the singles rankings at No. 76.
Looking ahead to SEC play, Aulia said: “We’re very excited,” Aulia said ahead of the conference opener. “We’re going to try and just take it one match at a time and improve every week. Obviously, our goal is to bring home a trophy at the end of it all, but now we need to focus on the things that we do well.”
Kentucky comes into Saturday’s matchup riding a six-game winning streak and recently swept Bellarmine in a doubleheader. Although not ranked among ITA’s top-75 teams, Kentucky features two players in national singles rankings: Zoe Hammond at No. 94 and Julia Zhu at No. 119. Their only contest against a ranked opponent was against then-No. 7 Duke, resulting in a 4-2 defeat.
Home matches for Lady Vol Tennis are free for spectators with general admission seating available at Barksdale Tennis Stadium and Goodfriend Tennis Center on campus; parking is offered at the G7 lot nearby.
For more information or live coverage of matches through streaming or stats updates, fans are encouraged to visit official channels or follow Lady Vol Tennis on Twitter/X (@Vol_WTennis), Instagram (@vol_wtennis), or Facebook.
