The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
#15 Baylor
No. 24 Women’s Tennis falls to No. 15 Baylor, 4-2
04.12.2017 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns collect straight-sets singles wins from senior Neda Koprcina and freshman Anna Turati.
WACO, Texas – No. 24 Texas (10-7, 4-3 Big 12) picked up singles wins from senior Neda Koprcina and freshman Anna Turati, but No. 15 Baylor (17-5, 4-2 Big 12) fought off a gutsy effort from the Longhorns and emerged with a 4-2 victory Wednesday night at Baylor's Hurd Tennis Center.
Baylor posted doubles wins at the third and first positions to lock up the doubles point and a 1-0 match lead. The Bears pushed their lead to 2-0 behind Jessica Hinojosa's 6-2, 6-4 win over Texas sophomore Daniella Roldan at sixth singles.
Anna Turati put the Horns on the board at fourth singles. Turati overpowered Angie Shakhraichuk from start to finish and notched a 6-2, 6-1 win to slice the Baylor lead to 2-1.
Baylor regained its two-point lead at fifth singles where Theresa Van Zyl registered a 7-5, 6-1 victory over UT junior Dani Wagland.
Koprcina held off a run from Baylor's Elizabeth Profit at second singles to give Texas its second point and cut its deficit to 3-2. Koprcina had little trouble with Profit in the first set and nailed down a 6-2 win. The second-set progressed to a tiebreaker where Koprcina prevailed 7-4 to close out her win.
Texas' 36th-ranked freshman Bianca Turati engaged in a lengthy battle with Baylor's fifth-ranked Blair Shankle at first singles while UT's 74th-ranked freshman Petra Granic followed suit against Baylor's 119th-ranked Rhiann Newborn at third singles. Turati took the first set off of Shankle, 6-4, but the Baylor senior stayed in the match by winning the second set, 6-2.
Shankle picked up the late break she needed and held off Turati in the final set 6-4 to close out the Baylor victory. Granic stayed in her match by gutting out a 7-4 second-set tiebreak win over Newborn. She trailed 4-2 in the third set when the match was called after Shankle's match-clinching win.
Texas resumes dual-match play on Friday, April 21 when it hosts top-25 foe Kansas on Senior Day. First serve is set for 4 p.m. at UT's Whitaker Courts.
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Howard Joffe
I definitely give our ladies a ton of credit for making a match of it in the end. That aside, we paid dearly for a miserable doubles performance. Clearly I did not have the team ready to play today.
No. 15 Baylor 4, No. 24 Texas 2
Doubles – Order of Finish: 3, 1
1 Blair Shankle/Karina Traxler (BU) def. No. 65 Petra Granic/Bianca Turati (UT), 6-2
2 Neda Koprcina/Anna Turati (UT) vs. Elizabeth Profit/Theresa Van Zyl (BU), 5-3, susp.
3 Angie Shakhraichuk/Jessica Hinojosa (BU) def. Daniella Roldan/Dani Wagland (UT), 6-2
Singles – Order of Finish: 6, 4, 5, 2, 1
1 No. 5 Blair Shankle (BU) def. No. 36 Bianca Turati (UT), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
2 No. 76 Neda Koprcina (UT) def. Elizabeth Profit (BU), 6-2, 7-6 (4)
3 No. 74 Petra Granic (UT) vs. No. 119 Rhiann Newborn (BU), 5-7, 7-6 (4), 2-4, susp.
4 Anna Turati (UT) def. Angie Shakhraichuk (BU), 6-2, 6-1
5 Theresa Van Zyl (BU) def. Dani Wagland (UT), 7-5, 6-1
6 Jessica Hinojosa (BU) def. Daniella Roldan (UT), 6-2, 6-4
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Players Mentioned
