The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
TCU
No. 22 Women’s Tennis Preview: TCU, No. 32 Texas Tech
03.12.2014 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns open conference play this weekend against the Horned Frogs and Red Raiders.
WHAT: After taking on arguably the most challenging non-conference schedule in college tennis, No. 22 Texas (5-8) will close out the 2014 season with its nine Big 12 Conference matches. UT opens league play this weekend at TCU (7-7, 0-0 Big 12) and No. 32 Texas Tech (10-5, 0-1 Big 12).
Texas took on 11 of the nation's top-26 teams, including eight of college tennis' top-13 squads, during its non-conference slate. Only one of Texas' 13 opponents thus far is ranked outside the top-50 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) team poll. The Longhorns boast wins over No. 21 Auburn, No. 23 Houston and No. 26 Rice.
The conference schedule presents a formidable challenge, as well. Five Big 12 schools – Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Kansas – join the Longhorns in the ITA top-50 rankings. The league features 11 ITA-ranked singles players and four ITA-ranked doubles teams.
Big 12 Conference coaches voted Texas as the No. 2 team in the league's preseason poll.
WHEN/WHERE:
No. 22 Texas at TCU
Friday, March 14 – 2 p.m. CT
Friedman Tennis Center – Fort Worth, Texas
LIVE SCORING: HERE
No. 22 Texas at No. 32 Texas Tech
Sunday, March 16 – Noon CT
McLeod Tennis Center – Lubbock, Texas
LIVE SCORING: HERE
LAST MEETINGS vs. TCU & TEXAS TECH: Texas defeated TCU by a 4-3 count on April 21, 2013 in Fort Worth. The Longhorns defeated the Red Raiders by a 4-3 count in the Big 12 Championship semifinals on April 27, 2013 in Norman, Okla. Texas Tech won the regular-season meeting last year by a 4-3 count on April 6, 2013 in Austin.
I.T.A. NATIONAL RANKINGS (Texas only)
Singles
18. Breaunna Addison
89. Ratnika Batra
114. Elizabeth Begley
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. Addison is the Big 12 Conference's highest-ranked singles player at No. 18 nationally.
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 and ranks 114th in the latest ITA singles poll.
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 (RAHT-nick-ah BAHT-rah) 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.
