The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Northwestern
Women’s Tennis Preview: No. 7 Northwestern, No. 15 Vanderbilt
02.13.2014 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns open six-match home stand this weekend at Penick-Allison.
WHAT: No. 17 Texas (3-4) resumes dual-match play this weekend when it hosts No. 7 Northwestern (4-2) and No. 15 Vanderbilt (3-3).
WHEN:
No. 17 Texas vs. No. 7 Northwestern – Saturday, Feb. 15 – Noon CT
No. 17 Texas vs. No. 15 Vanderbilt – Sunday, Feb. 16 – Noon CT
WHERE: Penick-Allison Tennis Center – Austin, Texas
LIVE SCORING: Available at TexasSports.com
LAST MEETING vs. NORTHWESTERN: Texas defeated Northwestern by a 5-2 count on Feb. 22, 2013 in Evanston, Ill.
LAST MEETING vs. VANDERBILT: Texas handed Vanderbilt a 4-1 defeat on Jan. 29, 2012 in Nashville, Tenn.
NEXT MATCHES: Texas will take the following weekend off and resume dual-match play on Feb. 28 when it welcomes Houston. The Longhorns also will host USC on March 2.
TEXAS REMAINS AT NO. 17 IN ITA POLL
Texas ranked 17th in the preseason women's college tennis poll (Jan. 2) released by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), and the Longhorns have not budged from the 17th slot through the season's first four polls. UT is the poll's highest-ranked school from the Big 12 Conference.
Texas sophomore All-American Breaunna Addison ranks 24th in the ITA singles rankings (Feb. 11) after reaching the singles semifinals last season at the NCAA Championships. Freshman Ratnika Batra ranks 77th in the women's singles rankings and is 3-1 in dual matches. Batra and senior Elizabeth Begley entered the ITA doubles rankings this week at No. 60.
THE 2013-14 LONGHORNS
Under ninth-year head coach Patty Fendick-McCain, Texas returns six student-athletes from the 2012-13 squad that won UT's second consecutive Big 12 Championship and landed at No. 17 in the final ITA team rankings.
As a first-semester freshman last spring, Breaunna Addison became just the third Longhorn ever to reach the singles semifinals at the NCAA Championships and the first UT freshman to do so.
The Boca Raton, Fla., native became the first Texas freshman to earn ITA singles All-America honors since Susan Gilchrist in 1990. Addison tallied 30 singles wins and was selected as the Big 12 Conference Freshman of the Year.
Senior Elizabeth Begley has won two Big 12 individual titles and tallied 62 singles victories in her last two seasons. The Houston native earned her first ITA ranking singles ranking last fall.
Former Big 12 Freshman of the Year Lina Padegimaite returns after posting 13 dual-match wins last season as a junior. Classmate Annat Rabinovich added a pair of dual-match wins last season.
Texas also returns senior Juliana Gajic and sophomore Lana Groenvynck, who clinched UT's Big 12 Championship semifinal win over Texas Tech last season. Freshman Ratnika Batra reached the second round of the girls' singles draw at the 2012 Roland Garros (French Open) Junior Championships.
Freshman Pippa Horn (Norwich, Norfolk, England) competed at the last three Wimbledon Junior Championships. Freshman Neda Koprcina is Croatia's reigning under-18 national champion.
