The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
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Texas Tech
No. 35 Women's Tennis upsets No. 12 Texas Tech, 4-3
04.08.2016 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns outlast Lady Raiders in Lubbock behind Neda Koprcina’s three-set clincher at second singles.
LUBBOCK, Texas – No. 35 Texas (11-6, 3-2 Big 12) won a hard-fought doubles point and gutted out three singles wins in a 4-3 victory over No. 12 Texas Tech (17-3, 2-2 Big 12) Friday evening at Tech's McLeod Tennis Center.
Texas Tech led off the doubles session by winning the match at third doubles, but Texas rebounded with wins at the first and second doubles positions to claim the doubles point and a 1-0 lead.
UT's 11th-ranked tandem of Breaunna Addison and Dani Wagland knocked off Tech's Gabriela Talaba and Alex Valenstein by a 6-4 count at first doubles. Texas sealed the doubles point at the second position, where Neda Koprcina and Daniella Roldan held off Tech's Sarah Dvorak and Sabrina Federici, 7-5.
The Lady Raiders evened the match at one by way of a straight-sets win at third singles and assumed a 2-1 lead with a victory at sixth singles. Addison knotted the tally at two with her ninth straight victory, as she improved to 5-0 in league play with her 6-3, 6-3 win over Tech's 101st-ranked Dvorak at first singles.
UT's Roldan put the Horns back on top when she rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Tech's Federici at fifth singles. The Lady Raiders evened the contest at three by way of Felicity Maltby's straight-sets win at fourth singles.
The match's outcome fell upon the final result at second singles that ultimately went in the Longhorns' favor. Koprcina took the first set off of Tech's 107th-ranked Talaba, 6-4 only to see Talaba return the favor and force a third set. Koprcina registered an early service break and held Talaba at bay for the remainder of the match, as she put away a 6-3 third-set victory and delivered the 4-3 win for Texas.
"I am delighted for our ladies who had to contend with the conditions, the altitude and the enthusiastic Tech fans as well as a very formidable opposing team," said first-year Texas head coach Howard Joffe. "Aside from the outcome, I can't say that we played particularly well, but we are a team that is scraping and clawing. If we can start to perform a little more reliably, we will be awfully tough to beat.
Texas closes out its weekend road swing on Sunday when it visits No. 28 TCU. First serve is set for 11 a.m. CT at TCU's Friedman Tennis Center.
No. 35 Texas 4, No. 12 Texas Tech 3
Doubles – Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
1 No. 11 Breaunna Addison/Dani Wagland (UT) def. No. 64 Gabriela Talaba/Alex Valenstein (TT), 6-4
2 Neda Koprcina/Daniella Roldan (UT) def. Sarah Dvorak/Sabrina Federici (TT), 7-5
3 Lynn Kiro /Felicity Maltby (TT) def. Chelsea Crovetti/Katie Poluta (UT), 6-2
Singles – Order of Finish: 3, 6, 1, 5, 4, 2
1 No. 11 Breaunna Addison (UT) def. No. 101 Sarah Dvorak (TT), 6-3, 6-3
2 Neda Koprcina (UT) def. No. 107 Gabriela Talaba (TT), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
3 Alex Valenstein (TT) def. Dani Wagland (UT), 6-3, 6-2
4 Felicity Maltby (TT) def. Katie Poluta (UT), 6-3, 7-5
5 Daniella Roldan (UT) def. Sabrina Federici (TT), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
6 Katelyn Jackson (TT) def. Lana Groenvynck (UT), 6-3, 6-3
Players Mentioned
