The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Texas A&M
Women's Tennis tops No. 24 Texas A&M, 5-2
03.07.2009 | Women's Tennis
March 7, 2009
AUSTIN, Texas -- Texas (5-4, 1-0 Big 12) put on an overpowering display in doubles play and added four straight-set wins in the singles session to pick up a 5-2 win over No. 24 Texas A&M (4-6, 0-1 Big 12) Saturday afternoon in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown at UT's Penick-Allison Tennis Center.
The sixth straight women's tennis victory for the Longhorns over the Aggies gives Texas an additional point in the State Farm Lone Star Showdown. Texas now holds an 8.0-4.0 lead over Texas A&M in the 19-point season-long battle between the two schools. UT would win the 2008-09 State Farm Lone Star Showdown outright should it collect two of the remaining seven points up for grabs.
"This was a great win for these ladies today," UT coach Patty Fendick-McCain said. "I was pleased with the fight and the effort throughout the match against a tough A&M team."
Texas opened the match with a dominant doubles session to assume a 1-0 lead. Sophomores Amanda Craddock and Caroline Larsson started things off with an 8-2 win at the third slot over Sheri Olivier and Elze Potgieter to improve to 8-0 overall at third doubles. UT clinched the doubles point when senior Marija Milic and junior Vanja Corovic posted an 8-3 win at the first slot over the Aggies' Janelle Cuthbertson and Stephanie Davidson. The Longhorns completed the doubles sweep at the second slot, where sophomore Maggie Mello and freshman Krista Damico outlasted Morgan Frank and Christi Liles in a tiebreaker, 7-4.
Texas won three of the first four decisions in the singles session to nail down the team victory. Junior Sarah Lancaster improved to 8-1 in dual-match singles action with a decisive 6-1, 6-0 win over Olivier at fifth singles, and Mello pushed the lead to 3-0 with a 6-2, 6-4 win at the fourth slot over Santacroce. Texas A&M pulled to within 3-1 with a win at first singles, but Texas picked up simultaneous victories from Craddock and Damico to assume a 5-1 lead and clinch the team victory.
Craddock defeated the Aggies' Ashley Turpin at sixth singles, 6-3, 6-2. Damico finished off Liles at the third slot, 6-1, 6-3. Texas A&M collected the final point at second singles, where Frank defeated UT's Larsson by a 6-3, 6-2 count.
Texas resumes play on Friday, March 13 when it hosts California at the Penick-Allison Tennis Center.
Texas 5, No. 24 Texas A&M 2
Doubles - Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
1 Corovic/Milic (UT) def. Cuthbertson/Davidson (TAMU) - 8-3
2 Damico/Mello (UT) def. Frank/Liles (TAMU) - 9-8 (4)
3 Craddock/Larsson (UT) def. Olivier/Potgieter (TAMU) - 8-2
Singles - Order of Finish: 5, 4, 1, 6, 3, 2
1 Elze Potgieter (TAMU) def. Vanja Corovic (UT) - 6-4, 6-1
2 Morgan Frank (TAMU) def. Caroline Larsson (UT) - 6-3, 6-2
3 Krista Damico (UT) def. Christi Liles (TAMU) - 6-1, 6-3
4 Maggie Mello (UT) def. Lauren Santacroce (TAMU) - 6-2, 6-4
5 Sarah Lancaster (UT) def. Sheri Olivier (TAMU) - 6-1, 6-0
6 Amanda Craddock (UT) def. Ashley Turpin (TAMU) - 6-3, 6-2
