The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma
No. 22 Women's Tennis outlasts No. 18 Oklahoma, 5-2
04.11.2014 | Women's Tennis
Head coach Patty Fendick-McCain improves to 11-0 against the Sooners.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 22 Texas (11-9, 6-1 Big 12) dropped the doubles point but rallied to produce five singles wins in a 5-2 victory over No. 18 Oklahoma (15-4, 5-2 Big 12) in a lengthy Friday evening match at UT's Penick-Allison Tennis Center.
Oklahoma won two of the three doubles matches to win the doubles session that spanned over 90 minutes. Texas opened with a win at second doubles from Ratnika Batra and Neda Koprcina, who dealt OU's Morgan Chumney and Emma Devine an 8-3 defeat. Oklahoma responded by winning tiebreakers at the third and first doubles positions to claim the doubles point.
UT's Pippa Horn evened the match with her 6-2, 6-2 win over OU's Devine at fifth singles. Texas assumed a 2-1 lead behind Koprcina's 6-4, 6-1 win over Mia Lancaster at fourth singles. Addison tacked on to the Texas lead by way of her 6-2, 6-3 win over OU's Whitney Ritchie at first singles.
Texas won the first sets at courts three and six, but OU won second-set tiebreakers at both courts to force third sets. At second singles, the match progressed to a third set after UT's Elizabeth Begley won the second set over OU's Hermon Brhane.
Texas went on to clinch the match behind Batra's 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 win at third singles. Begley gutted out a 6-4 third-set win over OU's Brhane to push the Texas lead to 5-1 before OU's Abbi Melrose outlasted Texas' Lana Groenvynck at sixth singles.
Texas wraps its weekend home stand on Sunday when it meets Oklahoma State at 1 p.m. CT. The match will air live on Longhorn Network.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Patty Fendick-McCain
On the win
It was one of those matches where we kind of got the foothold early on there, and to Oklahoma's credit, they worked really hard and played some great tennis, especially at No. 3 (singles). Ratnika (Batra) had her hands full but I was really proud of her. She lost her composure for a little bit and then managed to get it back and get on the right path. We knew it was going to be a battle and I am just really pleased with how many matches we won."
On the singles wins from Neda Koprcina and Pippa Horn
I think we were so strong up top for so long and we weren't getting enough help down below. It is a learning process. They are young and all those guys are freshmen and sophomores down there, and it is a learning experience. To their teammates' credit, there has been a lot of mentorship, a lot of discussion and a lot of focus on the right things. It is great seeing them get the wins and being productive down there to take the pressure off the top of the lineup.
No. 22 Texas 5, No. 18 Oklahoma 2
Doubles – Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1
1 No. 70 Mia Lancaster/Whitney Ritchie (OU) def. No. 69 Breaunna Addison/Elizabeth Begley (UT) – 8-7 (3)
2 Ratnika Batra/Neda Koprcina (UT) def. Morgan Chumney/Emma Devine (OU) – 8-3
3 Hermon Brhane/Zita Engbroks (OU) def. Juliana Gajic/Pippa Horn (UT) – 8-7 (5)
Singles – Order of Finish: 5, 4, 1, 3, 2, 6
1 No. 16 Breaunna Addison (UT) def. No. 86 Whitney Ritchie (OU) – 6-2, 6-3
2 Elizabeth Begley (UT) def. Hermon Brhane (OU) – 5-7, 6-4, 6-4
3 No. 92 Ratnika Batra (UT) def. Morgan Chumney (OU) – 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3
4 Neda Koprcina (UT) def. Mia Lancaster (OU) – 6-4, 6-1
5 Pippa Horn (UT) def. Emma Devine (OU) – 6-2, 6-2
6 Abbi Melrose (OU) def. Lana Groenvynck (UT) – 1-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4)
