The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Wake Forest (NCAA Championships First Round)
No. 22 Women’s Tennis Preview: No. 33 Wake Forest (NCAA Championships First Round)
05.06.2017 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns meet the Demon Deacons in the first round in Columbia, South Carolina.
WHAT: No. 22 Texas heads to The University of South Carolina for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Championships.
The Longhorns will meet No. 33 Wake Forest in the tournament's opening round (round of 64). The winner takes on the winner of Friday's South Carolina-North Florida match. The second-round winner advances to the third round (round of 16) at the NCAA Championships finals site in Athens, Georgia.
WHEN/WHERE
NCAA Championships First Round (Round of 64)
No. 22 Texas (13-8) vs. No. 33 Wake Forest (18-10)
Friday, May 12 – Match time moved up to 9 a.m. ET/8 a.m. CT
Carolina Tennis Center
Columbia, South Carolina
LIVE SCORING
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=174573
LIVE VIDEO
http://www.gamecocksonline.com/sports/w-tennis/spec-rel/live-video-2.html
NCAA Championships Second Round (Round of 32)
No. 22 Texas-No. 33 Wake Forest winner vs. No. 14 South Carolina-North Florida winner
Saturday, May 13 – Noon CT
LIVE SCORING
http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=174575
LIVE VIDEO
http://www.gamecocksonline.com/sports/w-tennis/spec-rel/live-video.html
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
Texas is making its 34th NCAA tournament appearance. UT holds a 48-31 record at the NCAA Championships. The Longhorns captured NCAA team titles in 1993 and 1995 and posted NCAA runner-up finishes in 1992 and 2005.
A year ago, Texas defeated William & Mary in the opening round before upsetting host No. 9 seed Duke, 4-2 to advance to the round of 16 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Persistent rain in Tulsa forced the relocation of Texas' third round match to Stillwater, Oklahoma, where Texas suffered a 4-0 defeat to eighth-seeded Pepperdine.
LAST MEETINGS vs. WAKE FOREST, SOUTH CAROLINA AND NORTH FLORIDA
Texas and Wake Forest last met on March 6, 2005 in Austin, where UT handed Wake a 6-1 defeat. UT leads the series against Wake Forest, 11-4. Texas holds a 3-0 series lead over South Carolina. The Horns and Gamecocks last met on March 6, 1990 in Austin, where Texas prevailed, 6-2. Texas and North Florida have not met in women's tennis.
ITA NATIONAL RANKINGS (May 4)
Singles
41. Bianca Turati, Texas
47. Mia Horvit, South Carolina
49. Ingrid Gamarra Martins, South Carolina
60. Kimmy Guerin, Wake Forest
72. Neda Koprcina, Texas
83. Petra Granic, Texas
89. Emma Davis, Wake Forest
Doubles
25. Hadley Berg/Paige Cline, South Carolina
54. Petra Granic/Dani Wagland, Texas
59. Hadley Berg/Caroline Dailey, South Carolina
63. Petra Granic/Bianca Turati, Texas
80. Kimmy Guerin/Anna Ulyashchenko, Wake Forest
BIANCA TURATI EARNS NCAA SINGLES BID
The NCAA announced Wednesday (May 3) the invitation of Texas freshman Bianca Turati to compete in the 64-player singles draw later this month at the NCAA Championships. The women's singles tournament runs May 24-29 at the NCAA Championships in Athens, Georgia.
Turati, the first Texas freshman to earn an NCAA singles bid since Breaunna Addison in 2013, holds a 15-7 overall singles record in her first season of collegiate tennis. She produced a 9-7 mark in dual matches primarily at No. 1 singles.
The 42nd-ranked newcomer from Barzano, Italy, boasts four wins over ITA top-60 opponents, including a victory over Miami's 16th-ranked Sinead Lohan in February.
STEADY SENIOR
Senior Neda Koprcina has won nine of her last 10 singles decisions over the last two months. The Croatian posted a 6-0 mark in Big 12 regular season matches and went unbeaten over the last two regular seasons of conference play. She heads into her final NCAA Championships with momentum on her side after defeating Texas Tech's 58th-ranked Felicity Maltby in the semifinals of 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 Big 12 regular season play came at the hands of ITA national top-10 opponents.
Granic has won her last seven 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 went unbeaten in league play (3-0) and has only lost once in the last two months.
Players Mentioned
