KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A day after knocking off No. 13 Pepperdine, the Tigers were back and looking for another ranked victory as they took on No. 16 Tennessee in the second round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend. After Clemson (4-1) built a 3-1 lead, the Volunteers (2-0) fought back to upend the Tigers with three third-set victories, including in a tiebreaker on court one.
With the win, the Volunteers stopped the Tigers just short of a first appearance at ITA National Team Indoors since 2015.
The Tigers took the doubles point for the fifth time in as many matches, highlighted by a 6-4 upset for Jade Groen and Rinon Okuwaki on court one over the No. 15 duo of Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso. After dropping a 6-4 decision on court three, Gaia Parravicini and Romana Cisovska clinched the point with a 6-4 win on court two.
Clemson took a 2-0 lead as Artemis Aslanisvili defeated No. 82 Elim Yan, 6-3, 7-5 on court six. After Bhakta was taken down on court three, 6-3, 6-3, freshman Rinon Okuwaki won in straight sets on court four, 6-4, 6-3 to give Clemson a 3-1 lead. Tennessee knotted the match with three-set singles wins on courts two and five, fighting off first-set wins from the Tigers in both cases.
Groen won the first set on court one over Vanesa Suarez, but the Volunteer fought back with a 7-5 lead in the second. After Groen took a 4-2 lead in the third set, Suarez fought back to tie the match at 5-5 after a critical break. But Groen broke back after Suarez put a ball into the net at 30-40 to take a 6-5 lead and the serve. However, Suarez forced a tiebreaker in her third consecutive break, and would go on to win, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4).
UP NEXT: Clemson travels to Kansas State (Jan. 30) and Kansas (Feb. 1) before a meeting with South Carolina on Feb. 10.
Doubles (1,3,2*)
Singles (6,3,4,2,5,1)
