Rutherford Times

Eleonora Molinaro played the hero yet again as the No. 16-ranked Tennessee women's tennis team took down No. 17 Vanderbilt, 4-3, on the road at Currey Tennis Center Friday afternoon.

For the second time in the last four matches, Molinaro came through in the clutch for the Lady Volunteers (10-2, 3-0 SEC). After falling down a set early, the junior battled back to take the second frame, 6-3. Her and #113 Anessa Lee went back-and-forth in the third stanza, trading holds and breaks alike before reaching a tiebreaker. Molinaro took an early lead in the winner-take-all game, jumping out to a 5-1 advantage, but Lee was determined to fight, bringing the score back to 5-6 with serve.

It was then that Molinaro stared down the Vanderbilt No. 5 and returned shot after shot, working the net and the lob to keep her off-balance. The winner came at the net when Molinaro flicked a backhand down the line, landing on the stripe and fluttering to the back wall, resulting in a Tennessee victory.

The match marked the second-straight contest the Lady Vols came back to win despite losing the doubles point. Vandy secured the opening point with wins on Court 1 and Court 2. 

Elza Tomase continued her masterful play, rolling through #80 Anna Ross, 6-2, 6-3, on Court 2. She was the second Lady Vol to claim a point as Esther Adeshina got Tennessee on the board first on Court 6, dropping Amy Stevens, 6-4, 6-1.

Daria Kuczer helped supply a late jolt of energy to Molinaro, grinding through a late rally from #111 Holly Staff to take a 6-4, 6-3 victory on Court 3 as the singles matches begun winding down and the Commodores attempted to regain some momentum.

"What a match, it is so much fun getting this rivalry going again with Vanderbilt," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "Early this morning, we told the team that if we wanted to win this match, we were going to need to play about 170 points in singles, and if we were willing to do that, we would win. That's exactly what happened. On all six courts in singles, we battled from start to finish and I am very proud of our team for doing that."

With the victory, the Lady Vols have now run their win-streak up to six matches.

"We will get back to work tonight while the girls celebrate, and we look forward to all getting back at it tomorrow," Ojeda continued. "Kentucky is playing well, so that will be another tough match."

Full results from Friday's match can be found below. 

UP NEXT: Tennessee travels to Kentucky to face the Wildcats at Noon ET in Lexington on Sunday.

#16 Tennessee 4, #17 Vanderbilt 3

Singles 

1. #48 Celia-Belle Mohr (VANDY-W) def. #31 Rebeka Mertena (TENN) 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 6-3
2. #57 Elza Tomase (TENN) def. #80 Anna Ross (VANDY-W) 6-2, 6-3
3. #37 Daria Kuczer (TENN) def. #111 Holly Staff (VANDY-W) 6-4, 6-3
4. #60 Bridget Stammel (VANDY-W) def. Catherine Aulia (TENN) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
5. Eleonora Molinaro (TENN) def. #113 Anessa Lee (VANDY-W) 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
6. Esther Adeshina (TENN) def. Amy Stevens (VANDY-W) 6-4, 6-1 

Order of Finish: 6,2,3,4,5,1

Doubles
1. Anna Ross/Holly Staff (VANDY-W) def. #55 Rebeka Mertena/Esther Adeshina (TENN) 6-4
2. Celia-Belle Mohr/Marcella Cruz (VANDY-W) def. Daria Kuczer/Eleonora Molinaro (TENN) 6-3
3. Bridget Stammel/Anessa Lee (VANDY-W) vs. Elza Tomase/Catherine Aulia (TENN) 4-5, unfinished

Order of Finish: 2,1 

Original source can be found here