The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Miami (Fla.)
No. 18 Women's Tennis defeats No. 17 Miami, 5-2
02.11.2017 | Women's Tennis
Texas picks up its first top-20 win of the season, and freshman Bianca Turati knocks off a top-10 opponent.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 18 Texas won the doubles point and four of six singles matches en route to a 5-2 victory over visiting No. 17 Miami (Fla.) Saturday afternoon at the Whitaker Tennis Courts.
"I am unbelievably proud of our ladies," said second-year Texas head coach Howard Joffe. "We have a particularly young team that has taken consecutive losses, and with Miami facing us today, it was always going to ask questions of our resolve and character."
The Longhorns (2-2) claimed two of three doubles matches to win the doubles point from the Hurricanes (1-2). UT's 53rd-ranked tandem of freshman Petra Granic and junior Dani Wagland made short work of Dominika Paterova and Estela Perea-Somarriba en route to a 6-0 win at first doubles.
Miami responded with a 6-4 win at second doubles, but Texas locked up the doubles point behind its 6-4 win from freshman Anna Turati and senior Neda Koprcina over Sinead Lohan and Silvia Fuentes at third doubles.
"Our doubles was much improved with Petra and Dani playing as sharp a set as I have seen in a while," Joffe said.
Texas assumed a 2-0 match lead behind Koprcina's 6-2, 6-2 win over the 100th-ranked Maci Epstein at second singles. Anna Turati took control early on in her contest against the Hurricanes' Paterova at fourth singles and cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 win to give Texas a 3-0 lead. The remaining four courts progressed to third sets, and ultimately it was freshman Petra Granic who clinched the team win.
Granic dropped her first set to Miami's 94th-ranked Perez-Somarriba at third singles, 6-3 before rallying to a 6-2 second-set win. Granic broke Perez-Somarriba's serve at 5-all in the third set and won the following game on her serve to close out a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 win and clinch the team win for the Longhorns.
Bianca Turati, who made her ITA rankings debut this week at No. 85, scored the biggest win to date in her young Longhorns career. Taking on Miami's sixth-ranked Lohan, Turati took the first set 6-3 but yielded the second set, 6-4 when Lohan registered a late break of serve. However, Turati picked up an early service break in the third set and put away a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 win. Miami closed out the remaining matches at the fifth and sixth singles positions.
"All three freshmen won their matches against tough foes," Joffe added. "Anna (Turati) had laser focus, Bianca (Turati) beat one of the better players in college tennis and Petra (Granic) showed amazing skill and the toughest and highest of character in clinching this excellent win."
Texas resumes dual-match competition in two weeks at the Blue-Gray Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Alabama.
No. 18 Texas 5, No. 17 Miami 2
Doubles – Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
1 No. 53 Petra Granic/Dani Wagland (UT) def. Dominika Paterova/Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM), 6-0
2 Maci Epstein/Ana Madcur (UM) def. Bianca Turati/Katie Poluta (UT), 6-4
3 Anna Turati/Neda Koprcina (UT) def. Sinead Lohan/Silvia Fuentes (UM), 6-4
Singles – Order of Finish: 2, 4, 3, 1, 6, 5
1 No. 85 Bianca Turati (UT) def. No. 6 Sinead Lohan (UM), 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
2 No. 79 Neda Koprcina (UT) def. No. 100 Maci Epstein (UM), 6-2, 6-2
3 Petra Granic (UT) def. No. 94 Estela Perez-Somarriba (UM), 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
4 Anna Turati (UT) def. Dominika Paterova (UM), 6-2, 6-0
5 Ana Madcur (UM) def. Dani Wagland (UT), 6-7 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (1)
6 Silvia Fuentes (UM) def. Katie Poluta (UT), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
Players Mentioned
