{"id":8248,"date":"2026-04-11T01:52:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T01:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/11\/leyla-britez-risso-a-rock-solid-foundation-for-lady-vols-tennis-amid-rollercoaster-season-the-daily-beacon\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T01:52:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T01:52:14","slug":"leyla-britez-risso-a-rock-solid-foundation-for-lady-vols-tennis-amid-rollercoaster-season-the-daily-beacon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/11\/leyla-britez-risso-a-rock-solid-foundation-for-lady-vols-tennis-amid-rollercoaster-season-the-daily-beacon\/","title":{"rendered":"Leyla Britez Risso a \u2018rock solid\u2019 foundation for Lady Vols tennis amid rollercoaster season – The Daily Beacon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leyla Britez Risso strolled onto the No. 1 Court, bouquet in hand, and embraced her head coach of four years, Alison Ojeda.\u00a0<\/span>
The senior was being honored before Thursday\u2019s match against Ole Miss, the penultimate regular season contest of her career.\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cWhen she and her family were walking on the court, the thing that I shared with her when I hugged her was simply, \u2018I need you to understand just how much you mean to our tennis program,\u2019\u201d Ojeda said.\u00a0<\/span>
The embrace summed up four years, over 50 singles and doubles victories, a Final Four and Elite Eight appearance and so much more for the Asuncion, Paraguay, native and her head coach.<\/span>
\u201cShe\u2019s been helping me through everything these four years,\u201d Britez Risso said. \u201cShe\u2019s taught me so much, taught me a lot of lessons and I\u2019m extremely grateful that I have been a part of this program and that I have been coached by her.\u201d<\/span>
But when the ceremonies ended, and the match began, Britez Risso turned from sentimental to the fierce competitor she\u2019s been all season. She claimed a 6-1 doubles victory with fellow senior Catherine Aulia, then grabbed the third point of the dual with a 6-1, 7-5 singles win.<\/span>
Britez Risso is now 15-1 in singles during the dual slate, dominating a stacked SEC field as she has rotated between Court 2 and Court 3 throughout the season.<\/span>
\u201cA lot of confidence, a lot of discipline,\u201d Britez Risso said. \u201cAlso, trusting myself on court and knowing what I want to do each time. Even though, sometimes, I\u2019m not playing my best tennis, or I might be struggling mentally, just fighting through it all.\u201d<\/span>
It\u2019s hard to say where Tennessee would be without Britez Risso holding it down. It\u2019s been an up-and-down season for the Lady Vols, as they sit at 7-7 in the SEC entering the final match of the regular season. The rest of the team outside of Britez Risso is a combined 35-37 in singles this spring, but the senior is more than willing to be the bedrock for her teammates.<\/span>
\u201cShe\u2019s been rock solid, and then if there\u2019s any uncertainty on any other court, they can turn to Leyla, look at her and kind of get a little bit of confidence from her,\u201d Ojeda said.<\/span>
But the path to this stellar season wasn\u2019t easy for the senior. Britez Risso had to be patient and develop under Ojeda\u2019s proven system.\u00a0<\/span>
\u201cWhat\u2019s interesting is, her freshman year, she didn\u2019t play,\u201d Ojeda said. \u201cShe watched everybody from the sideline, and a lot of times you get players after that first season, they come in and they want to transfer. But Leyla said, \u2018I want to be in the lineup. How do I do it?\u2019 That was her mindset, and that tells you a lot about her determination.\u201d<\/span>
Over the following seasons, Britez Risso put in the work. She found opportunities in key moments in Tennessee\u2019s run to the Final Four in 2024 before becoming a steady member of the lineup in 2025. All the while, she never lost that determination.<\/span>
\u201cNow in her senior year, you\u2019re seeing that same hunger and desire but with a better version of who she is as a tennis player,\u201d Ojeda said.<\/span>
Britez Risso showed a better version of herself on Thursday. For most of the season, Britez Risso has been playing on Court 3, but Ojeda changed things up against the Rebels, slotting Britez Risso at Court 2 and fellow senior Vanesa Suarez at Court 3.<\/span>
\u201cA couple days ago, I told Leyla and Vanesa that we were going to switch their spots, and both of them just said, \u2018OK, whatever we need to do for the team,\u2019\u201d Ojeda said. \u201cSo I\u2019m really proud of the way they handled that, just going out and competing hard.\u201d<\/span>
Britez Risso faced little resistance against Ole Miss\u2019s Alice Soulie in the first set, winning 6-1. But in the second set, she found herself down 5-4 and needed to tap into her signature competitive fire.<\/span>
\u201cI think I was really pissed today,\u201d Britez Risso said with a laugh. \u201cI was trying to manage my emotions, but I kind of just went for it and trusted my game, and, honestly, that\u2019s what helped.\u201d<\/span>
That was all it took. The senior rattled off three straight games to put Tennessee up 3-1 before Maeve Thornton clinched a victory for the Lady Vols.<\/span>
\u201cSo excited for Leyla,\u201d Ojeda said. \u201cThe kid is just tough as nails.\u201d<\/span>
Now, as she prepares to enter postseason play for the final time with her teammates, Britez Risso\u2019s confidence is just as high.<\/span>
\u201cI know we have been struggling a little bit, but this team has not gotten to its best point yet,\u201d Britez Risso said. \u201cWe still have so much more to give, and we\u2019re going to show it in the next couple matches, and, honestly, whatever we have for the season left.\u201d<\/span>
As Ojeda reflects this weekend on what her three seniors have meant to the Lady Vols program, the way she describes Britez Risso\u2019s growth as a player and a person is simple but profound.<\/span>
\u201cLeyla\u2019s just learned how to be a winner,\u201d Ojeda said.\u00a0<\/span>
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