The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
TCU (Big 12 Championship quarterfinals)
No. 24 Women’s Tennis Preview: No. 25 TCU (Big 12 Championships quarterfinals)
04.25.2017 | Women's Tennis
Fourth-seeded Longhorns earn first-round bye and take on fifth-seeded TCU on Friday.
WHAT: No. 24 Texas opens postseason play this week at the Big 12 Championships hosted by The University of Oklahoma.
The fourth-seeded Longhorns earned a first-round bye and will take on fifth-seeded TCU in Friday's quarterfinals.
WHEN/WHERE
No. 25 TCU (13-8, 5-4 Big 12) vs. No. 24 Texas (12-7, 6-3 Big 12)
Friday, April 28 – 1 p.m. CT
Headington Family Tennis Center
Norman, Oklahoma (event hosted by Oklahoma)
LIVE SCORING
http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?DB_OEM_ID=31000&gid=okla
LIVE VIDEO (paid subscription required)
https://www.flotennis.com/live/2613-big-12-championships/signup?next=http://live.flotennis.com/#/event/2613-big-12-championships
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS INFORMATION PAGE
http://www.big12sports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=211368207&DB_OEM_ID=10410&DB_OEM_ID=10410
LAST MEETING vs. TCU
Texas defeated TCU by a 4-0 count on March 26 in Austin.
BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
Texas has won nine Big 12 Championship tournaments, including the last tournament held at Oklahoma in 2013. The Longhorns have reached the finals at the Big 12 Championships a league-leading 16 times in the event's 20-year history.
Texas took on Texas Tech in the first round of the 2016 Big 12 Championships in Stillwater and suffered a 4-3 defeat.
ITA NATIONAL RANKINGS (as of April 25, Texas players)
Singles
42. Bianca Turati
80. Petra Granic
82. Neda Koprcina
Doubles
56. Petra Granic/Dani Wagland
83. Petra Granic/Bianca Turati
STEADY SENIOR
Senior Neda Koprcina has won her last eight singles decisions and is unbeaten in her last 11 singles matches dating back to March 5. Koprcina hasn't dropped a match since March 4 at Stanford, when she pushed the Cardinal's 41st-ranked Caroline Doyle to three sets before falling 6-4 in the third.
Koprcina hasn't dropped a conference singles match since her sophomore season. She brings an 11-4 dual-match singles record to the Big 12 Championships.
MORE ON THE LONGHORNS
Second-year Texas head coach Howard Joffe returns five veterans from the 2015-16 squad that reached the round of 16 (third round) at the NCAA Championships and ranked No. 20 in the final ITA team poll.
All-Big 12 senior Neda Koprcina totaled a 21-2 dual-match record – including a 14-1 mark at No. 2 singles – last season as a junior. Koprcina clinched the Longhorns' 4-2 upset win at ninth-seeded Duke in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Championships.
Junior Dani Wagland posted 12 dual-match wins last season including a team-best eight wins at No. 3 singles. Katie Poluta joined the Longhorns last season from South Africa and totaled a 12-8 dual-match record. Her classmate Daniella Roldan added eight dual-match singles wins, and Chelsea Crovetti chipped in three singles victories.
UT welcomes four newcomers in the form of Anna and Bianca Turati of Italy, Petra Granic of Croatia and Madison Cleff of Colleyville, Texas.
Bianca Turati has held the top spot in the Longhorns' singles lineup all season. She boasts four wins over top-100 opponents. Her only three losses in league play have come at the hands of ITA national top-10 opponents.
Granic has won her last five singles decisions and hasn't lost a match since March 24. She won her first tournament title in September when she secured the Flight 2A event at the Rice Invitational in Houston.
Anna Turati is unbeaten in league play (3-0) and hasn't lost a match since March 4 at Stanford.
Players Mentioned
