The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
SMU
Women's Tennis defeats No. 22 SMU, 4-3
03.06.2010 | Women's Tennis
March 6, 2010
AUSTIN, Texas -- No. 33 Texas (4-3) rallied to take the doubles point and secured three singles wins on its way to a 4-3 victory over No. 22 SMU (8-2) Saturday afternoon at UT's Penick-Allison Tennis Center.
Texas dropped the first doubles decision at the first slot but remained in control at second doubles and rallied to victory at third doubles. At second doubles, Texas' Vanja Corovic and Aeriel Ellis broke SMU's Pavi Francis and Edyta Cieplucha early on and assumed a 2-1 lead. The Texas tandem broke once more for a 5-2 lead and never looked back on its way to an 8-4 win.
The Longhorns' Sarah Lancaster and Caroline Larsson fell behind by a 4-0 count to the Mustangs' Shahzoda Hatamova and Casey Kennedy at third doubles. Texas broke SMU, held serve and broke once more to cut the lead to 4-3 before holding serve to tie the match at four. The two teams held serve until Texas broke for a 7-6 lead, and the Longhorns held in the ensuing game to take the match, 8-6 and clinch the doubles point.
Junior Maggie Mello pushed the Texas lead to 2-0 with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Sophie Quist at sixth singles. Larsson held on for a 7-5 first-set win over Cieplucha at fourth singles before cruising to a 6-0 second-set win to put the Horns up by a 3-0 count.
Damico provided the clinching win for Texas at third singles, where she dealt SMU's Hatamova a 6-4, 6-1 defeat. SMU went on to take the remaining three matches at the fifth, first and second slots, respectively.
Texas resumes play on Friday, March 19 when it hosts Kansas State at UT's Penick-Allison Tennis Center.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Patty Fendick-McCain
On the victory in the doubles session: Vanja Corovic and Aeriel Ellis have been playing well at No. 2 doubles. They have great chemistry together. It was great to see them finish off that match. Sarah Lancaster and Caroline Larsson had a good confidence booster at No. 3 doubles. Sarah played the best doubles I've ever seen her play. She finished brilliantly out there. Caroline has been under the weather and we were not sure if she would be able to play. Seeing her put in that performance at doubles and singles was a true testament to her toughness and fighting spirit.
On the singles session: Maggie Mello shook off some rust after having a rough couple of weeks. She played and competed well, and that was great to see, because we really needed that match. Krista Damico put in such a solid performance today. She did all the right stuff out there. Krista battled perfectly, and she was the better player. I give my kudos to Aeriel Ellis and Vanja Corovic. They lost their first sets. Aeriel was down 6-0 and 2-0 in the second, and she found a way to battle back and fight to the end. We have seen her do brilliant things, but she just came up short.
Vanja was so tough the whole way. Her opponent was playing great tennis, but Vanja was in the match and had some chances. Sarah Lancaster was down a set and 5-3 (in the second set), and she forced a tiebreaker. It goes to show you they are getting better and better as the season goes on, and that's what we want to see."
No. 33 Texas 4, No. 22 SMU 3
Doubles - Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
1 Lesniak/Malyarchikova (SMU) def. Craddock/Damico (UT) - 8-2
2 Corovic/Ellis (UT) def. Francis/Cieplucha (SMU) - 8-4
3 Lancaster/Larsson (UT) def. Hatamova/Kennedy (SMU) - 8-6
Singles - Order of Finish: 6, 4, 3, 5, 1, 2
1 #59 Marta Lesniak (SMU) def. #26 Aeriel Ellis (UT) - 6-0, 3-6, 6-4
2 Aleksandra Malyarchikova (SMU) def. #50 Vanja Corovic (UT) - 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
3 #29 Krista Damico (UT) def. Shahzoda Hatamova (SMU) - 6-4, 6-1
4 Caroline Larsson (UT) def. #117 Edyta Cieplucha (SMU) - 7-5, 6-0
5 Pavi Francis (SMU) def. Sarah Lancaster (UT) - 6-3, 7-6 (5)
6 Maggie Mello (UT) def. Sophie Quist (SMU) - 6-4, 6-1
