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Kansas State
No. 25 Women's Tennis shuts out Kansas State, 4-0
04.23.2017 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns open play at the Big 12 Championships on Friday in Norman, Oklahoma.
AUSTIN, Texas – No. 25 Texas (12-7, 6-3 Big 12) won both doubles decisions and all three singles decisions on its way to a 4-0 win over Kansas State (11-14, 2-7 Big 12) Sunday in UT's regular season finale at the Whitaker Courts.
At third doubles, UT junior Dani Wagland and sophomore Daniella Roldan broke Ines Mesquita and Iva Bago for a 4-2 lead before holding serve for 5-2. K-State held serve in the next game, but Texas followed suit and closed out the match, 6-3.
At first doubles, Texas freshmen Petra Granic and Bianca Turati fell behind 3-0 before climbing back into contention. The UT tandem broke K-State's Millie Stretton and Maria Panaite to get on the board, then held serve and broke the Wildcats once more for three-all.
K-State broke back for a 4-3 lead, but Texas broke K-State, held serve and registered one more service break to close out a 6-4 win and the doubles point for the Longhorns. The remaining match was suspended.
At fourth singles, UT freshman Anna Turati took the first set from K-State's Ana Garcia Navas, 6-1. Turati trailed early in the second set before breaking for a 3-2 lead. Turati yielded nothing from that point forward and finished off a 6-1, 6-2 win to give the Horns a 2-0 match lead.
At third singles, Granic raced out to a 3-0 lead over Mesquita only to see Mesquita pull within 4-3. Granic broke Mesquita for 5-3 and held serve in the following game to close out the first set, 6-3.
Mesquita broke Granic for a 2-0 second-set lead, but Granic came back with a vengeance to sweep the ensuing six games and finish a 6-3, 6-2 win that yielded a 3-0 lead for Texas.
At fifth singles, UT's Wagland jumped out to a 4-1 first-set lead over K-State's Panaite, but Panaite broke Wagland's serve and held serve to pull within 4-3. Wagland held serve for 5-3, but Panaite held serve, broke Wagland and held serve once more to assume a 6-5 lead. Wagland held serve to force a tiebreaker, where she prevailed, 7-3.
Wagland left nothing to chance in the second set and raced out to a 5-0 lead. Panaite held serve for 5-1, but Wagland held serve in the ensuing game. The Australian finished off a 7-6 (3), 6-1 win that delivered Texas its 4-0 win. The remaining courts were suspended.
Texas opens play at the Big 12 Championships on Friday (April 28). The league will announced the Longhorns' seeding and quarterfinal start time later this evening
POST-MATCH COMMENTS
Texas head coach Howard Joffe
I don't think the (windy) conditions allowed for very good tennis. But, I'm disappointed in the sense that I know we didn't play very well today. On the other hand, we definitely have a team that's very feisty resilient. It takes a lot to win a match. We definitely need a big improvement in the doubles. We did not lose a singles match (this weekend). The singles have been good, but I think we can improve on it. The doubles will need a major overhaul if we're going to do something in the postseason.
On this week's Big 12 Championships
The obvious thing like any tournament is if you're fortunate enough to win matches, you'll play even better teams as you go forward. If you want to win a conference tournament or the NCAA tournament, you'll need to be able to win three or four matches in consecutive days, which is a huge challenge given that these are three or four-hour duals. That would be a luxury we'd welcome. But, for now we'll wait for the tournament draw and see who we play. We'll give everything we've got to try to win the first one.
No. 25 Texas 4, Kansas State 0
Doubles – Order of Finish: 3, 1
1 No. 84 Petra Granic/Bianca Turati (UT) def. Millie Stretton/Maria Panaite (KSU), 6-4
2 Neda Koprcina/Anna Turati (UT) vs. Carolina Costamagna/Livia Cirnu (KSU), 4-5, susp.
3 Daniella Roldan/Dani Wagland (UT) def. Ines Mesquita/Iva Bago (KSU), 6-3
Singles – Order of Finish: 4, 3, 5
1 No. 40 Bianca Turati (UT) vs. Carolina Costamagna (KSU), 3-6, 6-1, 0-0, susp.
2 No. 79 Neda Koprcina (UT) vs. Millie Stretton (KSU), 4-6, 4-4, susp.
3 No. 72 Petra Granic (UT) def. Ines Mesquita (KSU), 6-3, 6-2
4 Anna Turati (UT) def. Ana Garcia Navas (KSU), 6-1, 6-2
5 Dani Wagland (UT) def. Maria Panaite (KSU), 7-6 (3), 6-1
6 Daniella Roldan (UT) vs. Livia Cirnu (KSU), 6-4, 4-6, 1-1, susp.
Players Mentioned
