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No. 24 Women’s Tennis falls just short in Big 12 Championships quarterfinals
04.29.2016 | Women's Tennis
Sixth-seeded Longhorns suffer narrow 4-3 defeat to third-seeded Texas Tech in Friday’s quarterfinals.
STILLWATER, Okla. – No. 24 Texas (14-8) went the distance with No. 19 Texas Tech (22-4) but dropped a tight 4-3 decision Friday evening in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Big 12 Championships at Oklahoma State's Greenwood Tennis Center.
Thunderstorms forced all six men's and women's quarterfinals matches indoors at Greenwood Tennis Center, and as a result, all matches were played the other way around with singles first.
Texas senior Lana Groenvynck made short work of Tech's Katelyn Jackson and posted a 6-1, 6-2 win at sixth singles to give the Horns a 1-0 lead. Tech responded at fifth singles where Sabrina Federici dealt UT freshman Daniella Roldan a 6-4, 6-4 defeat.
The Lady Raiders' Felicity Maltby put Tech back on top with her 6-3, 6-4 win over UT freshman Katie Poluta at fourth singles. Texas two-time All-America senior Breaunna Addison evened the tally with her straight-sets win at first singles.
The 10th-ranked Addison raced out to a 3-0 first-set lead over Tech's 100th-ranked Gabriela Talaba and ultimately closed out the set, 6-2. Addison held serve and posted a pair of service breaks to jump out to a 4-0 second-set lead. Talaba broke Addison's serve and held serve to pull within 4-2 before Addison held serve for 5-2.
Talaba held serve and broke Addison once more to draw within 5-4, but Addison broke Talaba's serve in the ensuing game to close out a 6-2, 6-4 win and even the team score at two. Addison's win bumped her season record to a staggering 34-3 in fall tournament and spring dual matches.
UT junior Neda Koprcina trailed Tech's Sarah Dvorak by a service break in the first set at second singles, but at 4-5 with Dvorak serving set point at deuce, Koprcina saved the point and evened the set at five. Koprcina held serve for 6-5 and broke Dvorak once more to take the set, 7-5.
Koprcina's second set progressed in nearly the same fashion as Addison's second-set win. Koprcina took a 4-0 second-set lead, and though Dvorak later broke Koprcina to pull within 5-4, Koprcina fought off Dvorak and closed the match with a service break, as she posted a 7-5, 6-4 win to give Texas a 3-2 lead.
At third singles, UT sophomore Dani Wagland produced two service breaks on her way to a 4-0 first-set lead, and she went on to take the first set from Tech's Alex Valenstein, 6-1. Valenstein broke Wagland for two-all in the second set, and she took the next four games to close out the second set, 6-2.
Valenstein broke Wagland's serve for a 5-3 third-set lead before Wagland returned the favor and stayed in the contest at 5-4. The Australian held serve for five-all and broke Valenstein's serve for a 6-5 lead. However, Valenstein broke back and forced a tiebreaker.
Valenstein assumed a 6-3 lead in the tiebreaker, and though Wagland saved a pair of match points, Valenstein converted on the third attempt, as she won the tiebreaker 7-5 to defeat Wagland, even the match at three and force the deciding doubles session.
UT's Chelsea Crovetti and Koprcina trailed Maltby and Federici by a 3-1 count at second doubles before holding serve and breaking the Tech duo for three-all. However, Tech ran out the ensuing three games and won the match, 6-3.
UT's 15th-ranked tandem of Addison and Wagland took a 2-0 lead on Tech's Talaba and Valenstein before Tech chipped away at the lead and even the match at three. Tech held serve for 4-3, posted a service break and held serve in the following game to close out a 6-3 win and deliver the doubles point and a team win to the Lady Raiders. The remaining match was suspended.
Texas awaits the NCAA Championships selection announcement set for Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. CT. The selections will be revealed on a live video stream available at NCAA.com.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Howard Joffe
I think through the last four or five weeks that one of the biggest things that I was lamenting was how short of par we were falling with respect to playing good tennis. Tonight, I really feel like we competed unbelievably well and started to play quite good tennis. Tech is obviously a very experienced team and a highly-ranked team. We were a few points here and there from winning the dual match in the singles. So, while it is a painful loss for our group, the bright spot is that this is the first time in a few weeks that I've seen us start to play pretty good tennis. I think we'll benefit from a couple of days of rest, even though we'd rather still be playing in the tournament. I really do feel like we'll be a very dangerous out in two weeks when the NCAA Championships roll around.
2016 Big 12 Championships
Women's Quarterfinals
No. 19 Texas Tech 4, No. 24 Texas 3
Singles – Order of Finish: 6, 5, 4, 1, 2, 3
1 No. 10 Breaunna Addison (UT) def. No. 100 Gabriela Talaba (TTU), 6-2, 6-4
2 No. 121 Neda Koprcina (UT) def. No. 88 Sarah Dvorak (TTU), 7-5, 6-4
3 Alex Valenstein (TTU) def. Dani Wagland (UT), 1-6, 6-2 7-6 (5)
4 Felicity Maltby (TTU) def. Katie Poluta (UT), 6-3, 6-4
5 Sabrina Federici (TTU) def. Daniella Roldan (UT), 6-4, 6-4
6 Lana Groenvynck (UT) def. Katelyn Jackson (TTU), 6-1, 6-2
Doubles – Order of Finish: 2, 1
1 No. 90 Gabriela Talaba/Alex Valenstein (TTU) def. No. 15 Breaunna Addison/Dani Wagland (UT), 6-3
2 Felicity Maltby/Sabrina Federici (TTU) def. Neda Koprcina/Chelsea Crovetti (UT), 6-3
3 Sarah Dvorak/Katelyn Jackson (TTU) vs. Katie Poluta/Daniella Roldan (UT), 6-5, susp.
Players Mentioned
