The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Mississippi State (ITA Kick-Off Weekend)
No. 12 Women’s Tennis Preview: ITA Kick-Off Weekend
01.25.2018 | Women's Tennis
Longhorns meet Mississippi State in tournament opener Friday at The University of California at Berkeley.
WHAT: No. 12 Texas (2-0) embarks upon its first road trip of the 2018 dual-match season as it takes part in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The event, which features 15 sites nationwide with four teams at each site, determines the field for next month's ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Texas would qualify for that event by winning both of its matches this weekend at the Berkeley site.
WHEN/WHERE:
No. 12 Texas vs. Mississippi State
Friday, Jan. 26 – 3 p.m. CT (1 p.m. local)
Hellman Tennis Complex – Berkeley, Calif.
Live Scoring/Video: http://calbears.com/sports/2013/7/10/208646366.aspx
No. 12 Texas vs. No. 11 California or UNLV
Saturday, Jan. 27 – start time TBD
Hellman Tennis Complex – Berkeley, Calif.
Live Scoring/Video: http://calbears.com/sports/2013/7/10/208646366.aspx
LAST TIME OUT
Texas opened the 2018 dual-match season last weekend (Jan. 20) with victories over Texas State (4-0) and UT Rio Grande Valley (4-0) at Weller Tennis Center.
SEASON NOTES
Anna Turati SELECTED AS BIG 12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK
The Big 12 Conference announced the selection of Texas sophomore Anna Turati as the league's first Women's Tennis Player of the Week for the 2018 season (Jan. 16).
The 87th-ranked Turati went 3-0 in singles and knocked off a pair of highly-ranked opponents over the preceding weekend at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic.
Anna Turati defeated 22nd-ranked Emily Arbuthnott of top-ranked Stanford in the tournament opener and added a straight-sets win over UCLA's Gabby Andrews the following day before ending the tournament with a three-set win over UCLA's 76th-ranked Alaina Miller.
At 9-1 overall in singles, Anna Turati has won her last six matches dating back to Nov. 3, and she hasn't dropped a match since Oct. 15. She added a doubles win with UT freshman Fernanda Labraña at the NCTC.
LONGHORNS EARN HIGHEST TEAM RANKING IN FIVE YEARS
Texas garnered its highest team ranking since 2013 and came in at No. 12 earlier this month in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) preseason women's tennis poll.
The Longhorns, who return five of six regular singles starters from the 2017 squad that reached the second round of the NCAA Championships, boast their highest team ranking since Jan. 30, 2013, when Texas held the 11th slot. UT joins four other Big 12 schools in the top-25 with Texas Tech at No. 8, Oklahoma State at No. 16, Baylor at No. 20 and TCU at No. 25.
Stanford, whom Texas will host on Feb. 16 at the Texas Tennis Center, tops the preseason poll while Vanderbilt ranks second. Florida, Georgia and North Carolina round out the top-five.
In November, Texas placed three student-athletes in the final ITA fall singles and doubles rankings.
At No. 10 in singles, sophomore Bianca Turati registered a career-high singles ranking and became the first Longhorn featured among the top-10 since Breaunna Addison in 2016.
Bianca Turati won her first 10 matches of the fall before sustaining a defeat to Duke's seventh-ranked Samantha Harris in the semifinals of the ITA National Fall Championships. She logged five wins over top-50 opponents, including three victories over top-20 foes.
Her classmate Petra Granic ranks a career-best No. 32 in singles after racking up nine wins in fall tournament competition, with four of those victories coming against ITA top-100 opponents.
The aforementioned Anna Turati, the twin sister of Bianca, ranks a career-best No. 87 in singles after putting together a 6-1 fall singles record.
Players Mentioned
