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No. 23 Women’s Tennis Preview: NCAA Championship First and Second Rounds
05.07.2014 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns open the NCAA Championships Friday against Houston in College Station.
NCAA Championships Interactive Bracket
WHAT: No. 23 Texas (12-12) will make its 32nd appearance in the NCAA Championships this week. The Longhorns take on Houston (21-5) in the first round (round of 64) on Friday, May 9 in College Station, Texas.
The Texas-Houston winner will meet the Texas A&M-Stony Brook first-round winner in the second round on Saturday. The second-round winner advances to the round of 16 set for May 15 in Athens, Georgia.
WHEN/WHERE:
NCAA Championship First Round (Round of 64)
No. 23 Texas vs. No. 34 Houston
Friday, May 9 – 11 a.m. CT
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center – College Station, Texas
LIVE SCORING/VIDEO: HERE
NCAA Championship Second Round (Round of 32)
Texas-Houston winner vs. No. 9 Texas A&M-Stony Brook winner
Saturday, May 10 – 3 p.m. CT
George P. Mitchell Tennis Center – College Station, Texas
LIVE SCORING/VIDEO: HERE
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
Texas holds a 45-29 record at the NCAA Championships. The Horns captured NCAA team titles in 1993 and 1995 and posted NCAA runner-up finishes in 1992 and 2005. Texas defeated William & Mary in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Championships in Charlottesville, Virginia, before falling to host Virginia in the second round.
LAST MEETINGS vs. HOUSTON, TEXAS A&M AND STONY BROOK
Texas defeated Houston by a 5-0 count on Feb. 28 in Austin. The Longhorns hold a 21-0 edge in the all-time series against the Cougars.
Texas fell to Texas A&M by a 4-2 count on Feb. 9 at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Charlottesville, Virginia. Texas leads the all-time series against the Aggies, 47-9. Texas and Stony Brook have not met in women's tennis.
I.T.A. NATIONAL RANKINGS (May 1, Texas only)
Singles
12. Breaunna Addison
119. Elizabeth Begley
ADDISON NAMED BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR
The Big 12 Conference announced Tuesday the selection of University of Texas sophomore Breaunna Addison as the league's Women's Tennis Player of the Year. Addison also earned All-Big 12 singles honors alongside Texas senior Elizabeth Begley.
Addison is the fourth Longhorn selected as the Big 12 Women's Tennis Player of the Year and the first since Janet Walker in 2000. Last month, Addison became UT's third Big 12 champion at No. 1 singles and the first since Petra Dizdar in 2005. The All-American collected her second straight Big 12 individual crown after winning the league title at No. 2 singles last season as a first-semester freshman.
Addison went a perfect 8-0 in league play this season and won 16 of 17 sets played at No. 1 singles against league foes. The 12th-ranked Addison is 16-1 in two seasons of Big 12 dual-match play and is one of only two players this season to defeat college tennis' top-ranked player, North Carolina's Jamie Loeb. Addison takes a 26-9 overall singles record into this week's opening round of the NCAA Championships. Her four losses in dual-match play have come at the hands of top-10 opponents.
Last season, Addison became the third Longhorn to reach the singles semifinals at the NCAA Championships and the first UT freshman to do so. Addison was the first Texas freshman to earn ITA singles All-America honors since Susan Gilchrist in 1990. Addison has earned the Big 12's automatic berth to compete in the singles draw later this month at the NCAA Championships.
ADDISON, KOPRCINA AND HORN WIN BIG 12 SINGLES TITLES
The Big 12 Conference announced Texas sophomore Breaunna Addison and freshmen Neda Koprcina and Pippa Horn as the league champions of their respective singles positions. Addison won the Big 12 title at No. 1 singles while Koprcina and Horn won league titles at Nos. 4 and 5 singles, respectively. Koprcina is a co-champion at No. 4 singles.
For the first time ever at UT and just the second time in the 18-year history of Big 12 tennis, Texas crowned two freshmen as Big 12 singles champions in the same season. This marked the second out of the last three seasons that the Longhorns secured Big 12 league titles at three of the six singles positions.
Koprcina, like Addison last season, won a Big 12 league title as a first-semester freshman. The native of Split, Croatia compiled a 6-3 mark in league play, including a 5-3 record at No. 4 singles. Texas has won Big 12 individual titles three consecutive years at No. 4 singles. Horn won the league crown at No. 5 singles by way of her 7-2 overall league record at Nos. 4 and 5 singles.
BIG 12 EXCELLENCE
Texas head coach Patty Fendick-McCain and her Longhorns have excelled in Big 12 Conference play during Fendick-McCain's nine-year tenure on the Forty Acres. The former Australian Open doubles champion is the only Big 12 men's or women's tennis coach to send his or her team to the finals of the Big 12 Championships in eight straight seasons.
Fendick-McCain and the Longhorns have won two of the last three Big 12 tournament titles. Texas hasn't finished outside the top-three in the Big 12 team standings in Fendick-McCain's tenure. Fendick-McCain boasts a 77-15 (.837) mark in Big 12 regular season matches.
COME ONE, COME ALL
Texas took on arguably the most challenging non-conference schedule in all of college tennis in the opening months of the season. The Longhorns faced nine ITA top-25 teams and faced a top-35 opponent in 11 of their 13 non-conference matches. All totaled, Texas played 12 of its 22 regular-season matches against top-25 competition and 15 of 22 against top-35 foes.
CONFERENCE DOMINANCE PAYS OFF FOR ADDISON
The Big 12 Conference announced April 9 the selection of University of Texas sophomore Breaunna Addison as the league's Women's Tennis Player of the Week. Addison picked up her first such honor from the league and won all six of her conference matches prior to receiving the award.
BEGLEY BACK ON TRACK
After dropping her first two league matches, senior Elizabeth Begley finished the regular season with wins in five league contests at No. 2 singles.
The Houston native has been a key contributor in conference play the last two seasons and has won Big 12 individual titles at No. 6 singles (2012) and No. 4 singles (2013).
The only player to play at all six singles positions for Patty Fendick McCain in her 17 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Begley boasts a 22-7 mark in Big 12 regular season matches. Begley earned her second straight All-Big 12 singles selection on Tuesday.
FRESH FACES COMING ON STRONG
The middle of the Texas singles lineup features a trio of freshmen who collectively posted a 21-6 singles record in Big 12 play. Freshman Ratnika Batra won eight of nine matches and 16 of 19 singles sets in league play, mostly at No. 3 singles.
First-semester freshman Neda Koprcina won six of her last seven league contests at Nos. 3 and 4 singles in league play on her way to a league title at No. 4 singles. Koprcina posted a win last month over USC's 70th-ranked Giuliana Olmos. Freshman Pippa Horn posted a 7-2 mark in league play at Nos. 4 and 5 singles.
STARTING FROM SCRATCH
Texas implemented new doubles teams at all three dual-match positions in advance of Big 12 play, and the move has largely paid off. Breaunna Addison and Elizabeth Begley won their first four league matches at No. 1 doubles and finished with a 5-2 league mark.
Freshmen Ratnika Batra and Neda Koprcina teamed up to win six of their last eight matches at second doubles. Senior Juliana Gajic and freshman Pippa Horn won five matches in league play at third doubles.
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 previous two seasons. The Houston native earned her first ITA ranking singles ranking last fall and ranks 120th 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 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.