KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – At Barksdale Stadium on Saturday afternoon, the seventh-seeded Tennessee men’s tennis team defeated No. 10 Florida State 4-3 in a thrilling match to progress to the NCAA quarterfinals.
For the 12th time in program history, Tennessee (25-6) advances to the NCAA Elite Eight, having done it three times in the previous five years.
Following a close loss to FSU (23-8) in the doubles match, No. 37 Shunsuke Mitsui quickly recorded UT’s first singles victory, defeating Loris Pourroy 6-2, 6-2 on court two. Wins on courts five and six gave the Seminoles an early 3-1 lead.
The Vols started to close the gap with Florida State after Johannus, ranked #1, defeated No. 4 Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc 6-4, 7-5 on Monday.
At the No. 4 position, Angel Diaz faced off against Youcef Rihane. He lost the first set in a tiebreaker, 6-7(7), but came back to win the second set, 6-4. In the third set, the two traded points, forcing a tiebreaker at 6-all. Tennessee advanced to the Elite Eight after the graduate battled to win 7–5.
Head coach Chris Woodruff stated of Angel, “I have a lot of faith in him.” Throughout his stay here, he has performed incredibly well.”
To me, home sweet home
For the first time in just five seasons since 2000, the Vols concluded the 2024 campaign with a flawless 18-0 home record.
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