BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In the first weekly awards released by the Southeastern Conference, the Tennessee women's tennis team took both honors with Eleonora Molinaro winning Player of the Week and Elza Tomase garnering Freshman of the Week honors.

"Anytime players are putting in hard work, it will pay off," head coach Alison Ojeda said. "Unless you're a mature athlete, it can often be hard to see that when you don't win. This last weekend we were able to see some results of this hard work we've done as a team, but we must continue growing each and every day. Really, anytime you're winning awards in our conference, you are doing something right."

Tennessee earned both spots in the SEC Athlete of the Week awards for the first time in program history. Molinaro is the 25^th Lady Vol to be named SEC Player of the Week while Tomase won the 19^th Freshman of the Week honor for Tennessee.

Molinaro earned her first career Player of the Week award, it is also her first SEC weekly honor. She went 2-0 in singles and 1-1 in doubles as Tennessee picked up a pair of wins on the road. The highlight of the week came on Sunday, as the match was tied 3-3. The sophomore from Luxembourg buckled down in clutch time, dominating the third-set against Brooke Killingsworth of Wake Forest, 6-1, to take the final point of the contest and push the Lady Volunteers to victory against a strong Demon Deacon lineup.

She is the first SEC Player of the Week from Tennessee since Tenika McGiffin earned it last season on April 14.

"Elé has worked so hard on being more mentally tough and becoming a more positive player, so I was thrilled for her to have performed the way she did this past weekend," Ojeda continued. "The fact that it also led to an SEC Player of the Week honor is a little icing on the cake."

Tomase was tabbed the first Freshman of the Week for the 2022 year after continuing her on-court success in dual action. Like Molinaro, she went 2-0 in singles and 1-1 in doubles. The freshman from Liepaja, Latvia, earned the match-clinching fourth point against Charlotte, defeating Lucia Quiterio, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Her singles triumph built momentum for the Sunday match as she rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 win over No. 58-ranked Casie Wooten, her third ranked win of the season so far. Tomase's impressive year also has her with 20 wins in singles and 14 doubles victories, both a team-high.

"I am so happy for Elza to get this recognition," Ojeda continued. "She did a great job of implementing the emotional skills we have been working on since she arrived to Rocky Top and that led to her on-court victories."

Tomase is the first Lady Vol to earn Freshman of the Week since Carly Briggs did so on Feb. 12, 2020. She is also the first UT freshman to earn the award in the first week of the season since Brynn Boren collected the honor on Jan. 26, 2011.

Molinaro and Tomase look to continue their strong start at ITA Kickoff in Columbus, Ohio this weekend. The Lady Vols face SEC foe and 21^st-ranked LSU at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.